MARION COUNTY - Kindergarten students in Marion County Public Schools showed significant improvement in the statewide progress monitoring assessment.
Last September, 64% of kindergarten students who participated in one of the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) programs in Marion County scored at the ready-for-kindergarten level compared to only 35% of students who did not.
Florida’s Department of Education recently published the Kindergarten Readiness levels of all 67 school districts in Florida, with Marion County ranking 37th in kindergarten performance, demonstrating a dramatic increase from the prior year of 66th in the state as compared to other school districts. The state average for kindergarten readiness is 51%.
Superintendent Dr. Diane Gullett shared, “When I came to Marion County, I knew that a critical component to increasing student outcomes was improving readiness for learning in Kindergarten by expanding access to high-quality early learning for ALL students in our community. Hence, I added Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten to every elementary school throughout our district. I am delighted to see that through the hard work of our team, students have a strong start to their education.”
State law requires statewide kindergarten screening to be administered for all kindergarten students within the first 30 days of school. The results provide valuable information about a child's readiness for school and help teachers plan to meet each student's individual needs throughout the year. Beginning last year, the new Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) Star Early Literacy served as that screener.
For more information, visit www.fldoe.org.