Department of Education spells out performance grades for voluntary pre-K

The Florida Board of Education has approved new standards for voluntary prekindergarten programs, aiming to measure how well they prepare children for kindergarten and ultimately grades one through three.

Voluntary prekindergarten (VPK), created in 2005, is designed to serve that function at no cost to families. Instructors must hold at least a state-issued teaching credential.

The grading system will take effect at the end of the 2024-2025 school year and the scores will be made available to parents through the providers and My Florida Schools, a database of all public, private, and specialized instructional service providers in the state.

“It’s important to note that, in the past, VPK accountability was based solely on performance of VPK children at the beginning of kindergarten; now it would [be based] on data collected during the VPK program year, so really establishing a much-improved accountability system for VPK,” said Cari Miller, chancellor for early learning, during a board meeting Wednesday.

“For the first time in Florida’s history, VPK educators, children, and families have real-time, immediate, and actionable data through the program year,” Miller said.

That would bring accountability to the early learning programs and prevent gaps in education, Education Commission Manny Diaz Jr. said during the meeting, helping elementary teachers spot children falling behind in their subjects.

“If there is a catch-up that has to be done, it’s minimal by the time they get to third grade,” Diaz said. Bringing students up to speed who fall behind early in elementary school can pose a greater challenge to third grade teachers and beyond, he added.

Quality

Half of a provider’s score is weighted on the “quality” of teacher-child interaction and classroom instruction, measured according to the emotional and instructional support provided.

“Research supports that quality interactions between adults and children promote children’s social and cognitive development, helping them thrive in their learning environments,” according to the department’s website.

Of the other two metrics, “achievement” makes up 20% of the score and “learning gains” make up 30%.

Achievement is calculated by how many children demonstrate readiness to begin kindergarten, while learning gains are measured by literacy, reading, and math scores.

Based on how well providers score on those metrics, they will be assigned a designation ranging from “excellent,” “above expectations,” “meets expectations,” “below expectations,” and “unsatisfactory.”

Foundation

Since VPK serves as a foundation for the rest of school, board chair Ben Gibson emphasized the importance of students keeping up early.

“VPK is not just daycare — which I still hear sometimes. And it’s incredibly important,” Gibson said. “And the more studies that come out about early intervention and the impact that has — I mean, we’ve talked about putting your money there, the investment there, the ROI is just, it’s just incredible.”

He added: “If [students] fall behind even at that stage, the ramifications for K-12 and beyond, the statistics are horrendous.”

Programs must provide all of the required data to the state and serve a minimum of four children; otherwise, they will be rated as incomplete.

Carol Gauronskas, vice president of the Florida Education Association, praised the board for emphasizing teachers’ support for and interactions with children.

“As the positives, all providers, both public and private, will have the same measurements, and the learning interactions will be the largest single portion of the metric. That, we’re thrilled with.”