Superintendent of Schools

Project BEST was a five-year training grant funded by Title VII (now Title III) and designed to provide new teachers in Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) with the training required by the State of Florida Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy, Inc. (META), Consent Decree. The following evaluation examines whether Project BEST achieved its goal of training qualified bilingual/ESOL education teachers through the appropriate endorsement courses. The evaluation also examines the impact that teachers participating in Project BEST had on the achievement of their limited English proficient (LEP) students across the district from 2000-01 through 2003-04. The report highlights the following findings. During the five years of implementation of Project BEST, there were a total of 12,111 teachers that participated in ESOL Endorsement inservice training courses. Also, 247 teachers participated in university courses offered through Project BEST and serviced through a partnership between BCPS and St. Thomas University. Analyses of pre- and posttest scores revealed that teachers who completed courses offered through the Project BEST attained significant knowledge gains. Analyses of standardized test results revealed that LEP students taught by teachers participating in Project BEST registered increased mathematics, reading, and writing achievement. Longitudina