Page 13 - Superintendent Report 2023-24

Early Childhood Education

Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program
The Department of Early Childhood Education (ECE) is charged with leading and managing the instructional and operational
components of the District’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) and Head Start programs. ECE earns and blends revenues
and other resources from contracts, parent fees, grants, and internal and external partners to fund teacher salaries and
related costs, including coaching and professional development. These efforts led to the provision of high-quality early
learning opportunities for approximately 2,430 preschool students in 124 classrooms in 64 public schools.

Technology to Support Early Learning
In FY23, VPK students had access to several technology resources. Through grant funding, VPK students in select schools
used iPads to create their own books, which were “published” and shared with peers and families, helping these children
develop their own “author identities.” In addition, My Math Academy and My Reading Academy year-round online programs
were introduced in all VPK classrooms through a partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County.

Program and Student Outcomes
Starting in FY23, all VPK classroom teaching teams were observed by state-funded outside assessors to gauge the quality
of their teacher/child interactions using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) tool. Earning a high CLASS
score is an evidenced-based predictor of program quality leading to higher child outcomes. All teaching teams met the
state’s quality threshold score and approximately 70% met the high-quality score. In addition, 97% of all VPK students made
learning gains on the inaugural implementation of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) Star Early Literacy
online assessment tool.

High School Graduation

In FY22, the District-operated schools’ overall graduation rate was 93% (89% including charters). Although the graduation
rate decreased from FY21 to FY22 and decreased for each subgroup, this was due to the removal of the COVID-19 assessment
waiver that had been in place for FY20 and FY21. When compared to FY18, graduation rates increased overall and for each
subgroup with the exception of English Language Learners (ELL) and Hispanic Males.

Table 1
High School Graduation Rates for District-Operated Schools by Subgroup
1-Year 5-Year
Group FY18 FY19 FY20* FY21* FY22 Change Change
All Students 92 92 95 96 93 -3 1
Female - Black 92 94 97 98 92 -6 0
Female - Hispanic 92 93 96 97 93 -4 1
Female - White 96 97 98 98 98 0 2
Female - ELL 84 80 91 93 80 -13 -4
Female - FRL 91 92 95 97 92 -5 1
Female - SWD 89 95 96 95 94 -1 5
Male - Black 86 88 93 93 87 -6 1
Male - Hispanic 89 88 90 92 87 -5 -2
Male - White 94 94 96 97 96 -1 2
Male - ELL 74 71 80 88 69 -19 -5
Male - FRL 86 86 90 92 87 -5 1
Male - SWD 84 89 91 90 90 0 6
*Florida Department of Education allowed a waiver for graduation tests due to COVID-19

EDUCATE | AFFIRM | INSPIRE // 13