FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
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Jeanine Blomberg
Commissioner of Education
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
DR. AKSHAY DESAI
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
March 19, 2007
MEMORANDUM # 07-09
TO:
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District Assessment Coordinators
Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum and Instruction
FROM:
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Shan Goff, Executive Director, Office of Early Learning
Cornelia S. Orr, Administrator, Office of Assessment and School Performance
SUBJECT:
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2007-08 Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) - Regional Training
Meetings
Consistent with the Department of Education’s (DOE’s) strategic imperative to improve student
rates of learning, we are pleased to provide information on the 2007-08 Florida Kindergarten
Readiness Screener (FLKRS). Section 1002.69, Florida Statutes, requires the DOE to adopt a
statewide kindergarten screening that assesses the readiness of each student for kindergarten
based upon the adopted Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education performance standards
and requires each school district to administer the statewide screening to each kindergarten
student in the school district within the first 30 days of each school year.
As in 2006-07, FLKRS is made up of a subset of the
Early Childhood Observation System
(ECHOS)
, an observational instrument that is used to monitor the skills, knowledge, and
behaviors a student demonstrates or needs to develop; and two probes of the D
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Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)
, Letter Naming Fluency and Initial Sound
Fluency.
School districts will be able to order the instrument through the
Harcourt Spectrum
system from
March 26 to April 20. Detailed information regarding ordering will be disseminated to
assessment coordinators in the coming weeks. A series of eight Regional Update Meetings to
provide district staff with guidance regarding the implementation FLKRS has been scheduled.
Attachment A
provides information regarding meeting dates and locations.
325 W. GAINES STREET • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org
District Assessment Coordinators
Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum and Instruction
March 19, 2007
Page Two
It is recommended that these meetings be attended by the District Coordinator of Assessment
or his/her designee, a representative of elementary curriculum and instruction, and an individual
assuming primary responsibility for the organization of FLKRS training in the district. The
meetings are not intended for individual teachers who will be administering the FLKRS
instruments, but for those individuals who will be responsible for communicating changes in
district procedures and practices. It is also recommended that small and medium districts send
no more than four representatives, while large districts may send up to eight persons.
Please submit the name, district name, phone number, and e-mail address of the District
Coordinator of Assessment by April 1, 2007. We request that the District Coordinator of
Assessment coordinate the district response by completing
Attachment B,
the registration form
to be used to reserve space at one of the meetings. Our office must receive this form no later
than the close of business April 15, 2007. Please send the above requested information to the
attention of Cathy Cross at cathy.cross@fldoe.org.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Early Learning, at (850) 245-
0445, SunCom 205-0445, or via email at earlylearning@fldoe.org.
SG/cc
Attachments (2)
cc:
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VPK Regional Facilitators
District Prekindergarten Program Contacts
