Ø       The Reading First Grant will provide funding to hire additional reading coaches at 28 schools that met Reading First criteria according to the State system of accountability. Reading First Coaches, together with existing Reading Coaches, will provide training for K-3 teachers in Reading. They will also be responsible for organizing the administration and reporting of the required State assessments that are part of the Reading First Grant.

Ø       In FY05, the Florida Department of Education sent an eligibility list with criteria for the selection of schools that qualified to participate in the Reading First Grant. The following elementary schools met the criteria to participate in the Reading First Grant for FY06: Barton, Belle Glade, Cholee Lake, Diamond View, M. M. Bethune, Egret Lake, Forest Park, Grove Park, Jupiter, K.E.C./Canal Point, Lincoln, Melaleuca, Northboro, Pahokee, Palmetto, Pine Grove, Pleasant City, Roosevelt, Village Academy, West Riviera, Westward, Wynnebrook, Corebridge, Lakeside Academy, Noah’s Ark, Palm Beach Maritime and The Imagine School.

Ø       The objective of the Reading First Grant is to hire additional reading coaches for 28 elementary schools with low- performing K-3 students.  The reading coach will:

§                     assume role as lead learner,

§         facilitate the organization of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy (DIBELS) team and reporting of student data,

§         facilitate the DIBELS administration and collection; assist teachers in understanding and interpreting the data collection,

§         attend all State and District professional development sessions,

§         conduct follow-ups to State summer academies and monthly District professional development sessions,

§         work closely with teachers to ensure full implementation of the intent of Reading First, including but not limited to, modeling lessons and coaching teachers in classroom organization,

§         distribute, collect, and interpret implementation rubric, and

§         assist in developing a Reading First Model Classroom at their school site.  

Ø       Reading First funds will be used to purchase intervention programs that have been recognized by FCRR (Florida Center for Reading Research) as meeting Reading First criteria for addressing the needs of K-3 students in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Ø       Reading First funds will be used to send all participating K-3, ESE, and ESOL teachers to a State mandated four-day summer reading academy.

Ø       Reading First funds will be used for District support staff to manage and implement the grant. 

Ø       This grant will be evaluated in terms of increased K-3 reading performance as measured by an outcome assessment that will be mandated by the Florida Department of Education. 

Ø       The funds secured from this grant are in the amount of  $2,950,127.44.  The grant period begins in the last quarter of FY05. Funding will continue for six years pending annual DOE approval and will be based on a 10% declining funding model.