Tag: Broward

  • Broward County + Microsoft Copilot: Changing the Game for Educators 

    Broward County + Microsoft Copilot: Changing the Game for Educators 

    Ever wonder what happens when one of the biggest school districts in the U.S. decides to go all-in on AI? Spoiler alert: It’s pretty amazing. 

    Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) just pulled off something huge—the largest global deployment of Microsoft Copilot licenses in education. Yep, the biggest in the world. And guess what? NCCE is right in the middle of it, making sure teachers feel confident and ready to roll. 

    So, why is this a big deal? 

    Because AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore—it’s here, and it’s changing how schools work. With Copilot, teachers can: 

    • Knock out lesson plans in minutes 
    • Automate those never-ending admin tasks-emails, agendas, data, feedback 
    • Spend more time doing what they love—teaching and connecting with students 

    This isn’t about replacing educators. It’s about giving them tools to make life easier and putting teaching and student learning at the forefront. 

    Where does NCCE come in? 

    We’re the professional learning crew behind the scenes working with Broward’s Innovative Learning Team and the Information System Team. Our job? Make sure Broward’s educators don’t just have Copilot—they know how to use it and implement it into their professional practice. 

    We’ve been running sessions like “Getting Started with Copilot” and “Copilot Champions and Beyond”—fun, hands-on workshops where teachers learn how AI can help with lesson planning, grading, and even sparking creativity. 

    And it’s not just one-and-done training. We’re doing coaching, virtual cohorts, and ongoing support, so teachers feel confident every step of the way. 

    What’s the impact so far? 

    Teachers and district staff are already using Copilot to: 

    • Create standards-aligned lessons and units in minutes tailored to specific learning pathways 
    • Draft school-wide communication memos and even event and initiative rollout plans quickly 
    • Assist with emails and professional communication to ensure appropriate tone and style 
    • Prepare meeting agendas, reminders, and summaries to help manage follow-ups efficiently 
    • Summarize email threads and missed communications for efficient catch-up 
    • Analyze instructional coaching data to identify trends and create graphic representations of the data 
    • Review vendor contracts from a cybersecurity perspective to ensure compliance with statutory mandated PII safeguarding. Even creating a report that indicates whether the contract has strong or weak compliance and the reasons why. 
    • Review previous meeting notes and discussions referencing relevant talking points for curriculum updates and budget planning 
    • Draft policies, memos, and communication plans, streamlining the process and ensuring clarity 
    • Compare versions of documents to identify changes and inconsistencies quickly 
    • Generate custom visuals such as graduation rate graphs, student progress charts 
    • Gather feedback and engagement data to refine report formats 
    • Personalize learning for every student 
    • Free up time for the stuff that really matters 

    Honestly, it’s a game-changer. 

    Why share this? 

    Because we want our community to know: NCCE can help any district make AI work for them. Whether you’re just starting or ready to scale big like Broward, we’ve got your back. 

    The bottom line 

    This isn’t just Broward’s story—it’s a peek at what’s possible when educators, tech, and great professional learning come together. AI isn’t the future anymore. It’s here. And we’re ready to help you make the most of it. 

    👉 Want to learn more? Visit https://www.ncce.org or reach out to our team. Let’s make AI work for you. 

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  • Broward County Public Schools faces enrollment drops, possible closures

    Broward County Public Schools faces enrollment drops, possible closures

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    Dive Brief:

    • Broward County Public Schools announced plans to “address” 34 of its 239 schools for possible closures or consolidations during a Tuesday board meeting. 
    • The pending plans come at a time when the large Florida district is reporting an enrollment decrease of 10,360 students, a count taken 10 days into the 2025-26 school year compared to the year prior. The district’s total enrollment, excluding charter schools, was 188,002 on Aug. 22.
    • The district also reported in July that 58 of its schools were below 70% capacity, including 39 elementary schools, 16 middle schools and 3 high schools.

    Dive Insight:

    As the sixth largest school district in the U.S., BCPS is not immune to a national trend of districts facing enrollment drops amid declining birthrates and growing school choice options.

    In a May survey of current and former BCPS parents conducted by Hanover Research, the data found that about half of respondents — 53% — said they enrolled their children in a nontraditional schooling option because they wanted higher quality instruction. A third of families also cited smaller class sizes and another third indicated the availability of more programs. The district surveyed 8,983 parents who either had a child enrolled, formerly enrolled, or partially enrolled in a BCPS school.

    The top two reasons parents said they unenrolled their children from BCPS was because they were dissatisfied with the district’s education quality (26%) and they were concerned about school safety (24%).  

    Among those who previously had a child enrolled or partially enrolled at BCPS, 20% said improved teacher quality through professional development would have made them more likely to stay. Some 18% also separately said better support for students with disabilities, improvements on handling school bullying, or strengthened safety and security measures would have encouraged them to keep their child in the district.

    To retain families, the district is being advised based on the parent survey results to:

    • Track school climate and culture outcomes for improvements.
    • Offer more college and career readiness support.
    • Provide more support to teachers to improve the district’s education quality.
    • Tackle school safety issues and work to reduce bullying and harassment.

    An August analysis by Bellwether, an education nonprofit, warns that more school closures and consolidation could be on the horizon in the coming months and years due to declining enrollment — ultimately leading to strained school budgets. Bellwether estimated that the total loss in revenue from declining enrollment at the nation’s largest 100 districts could total up to $5.2 billion based on 2023-24 school enrollment. 

    Other large school districts recently weighing a number of school closures and consolidations as a result of declining enrollment include Atlanta Public Schools, Austin Independent School District in Texas and St. Louis Public Schools.

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