Congratulations to our Department of Corrections Colleagues

WCTV in Tallahassee released news this week detailing information about GED graduates with the Department of Corrections. Congratulations to the dedicated men and women that teach in the correctional setting!

Inmates Getting High Marks
Florida's Department of Corrections is focusing on education for inmates to give them a better chance at success when they get back into society.
The number of inmates earning a GED has increased by 49% within the past two years.
DOC says with 88% of Florida's inmates one day being released back into our communities, an effort to lower the re-entry statistics is crucial.
"We know that an inmate who has a GED is less likely once they're released to go back out into the community, commit a crime, create another victim and come back to our prison system. It's all about public safety," says Gretl Plessinger, Spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
DOC says the increase only reflects the number of inmates who've passed all five parts of the test.
Many more inmates have passed sections of it, and will be retaking those sections in the coming year.

Buggy Blogs & Wacky Wikis

Hey Region 1!
I never knew there were SO many ways to commincate by networking. If you missed the Buggy Blogs & Wacky Wikis workshop on Friday you missed a treat. Jana Hill was awesome and introduced us to blogs, tweets, wikis and so much more.
Thanks, Jana for an incredible workshop. I can't wait for the follow-up.
Lisa

Your Input is Needed

Hey Region 1!
A colleague from Dixie County is looking for new GED Prep software that is effective and affordable. Please let us know what your programs are using and what you think best meets the needs of students.
Thank You!

News Release from DOE

Hey Region 1!
FYI – this news was just released and sent to deans and directors from Loretta Costin and Tara Goodman.

The Division has been notified that the national GED® Testing Service (GED-TS) will not be converting to a new exam in January 2012.

GED-TS announced that the plans for a new exam in 2012 have been altered. As you know, the current exam series was expected to end in 2011 with a new exam series to begin on January 1, 2012. Please see the attached announcement for further details.

At present, our office has not been provided with any additional details. We will provide additional guidance as information becomes available.

Please contact Tara Goodman at tara.goodman@fldoe.org if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Loretta

_____________________
Loretta Costin
Interim Chancellor
Division of Career and Adult Education
Florida Department of Education
325 West Gaines Street, Suite 734
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Telephone: (850) 245-9463
FAX: (850) 245-9065

E-mail: Loretta.Costin@fldoe.org

We Have a New Blog

Hey Region 1!
We are so excited about our new Blog page and hope you will begin to enjoy it as well. If you have signed up for our Buggy Blogs and Wacky Wikis training we will get an introduction on how to put this useful networking tool to work for us in Region 1.
Hopefully this will be more user friendly that what we were using and all of us from Region 1 as well as others from across the state can benefit from sharing our best practices, ideas and questions.
Happy blogging,
Lisa