Jeb Bush Honors 76 Florida Teachers With 'Excel Awards'

The Foundation for Excellence in Education today announced the recipients of the 2010 Excel Award, which rewards teachers whose students made the most progress in reading or math from one year to the next for the last three consecutive years.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who chairs the foundation, cited 76 "extraordinary educators for their proven excellence in the classroom."

Winning teachers were selected using a model developed in partnership with the American Institutes for Research. The model measures the annual academic growth of all Sunshine State students in reading and math using four years of data provided by the Florida Department of Education.

Students of the winning educators learned at least 1.5 times, or 50 percent, more than the average student based on the results of the FCAT exams.

The 2010 Excel Award winners will be honored at a "Celebration of Teaching" event Oct. 30 in Orlando.

Read the list of winners here.