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Preschools Receive Grades

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By RONNIE BLAIR and MICHELE SAGER

rblair@tampatrib.com msager@tampatrib.com

Published: April 2, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - Each year, parents in search of a quality preschool can use a rating tool provided by the state to measure how well some preschools prepare children for kindergarten.

The state's readiness rate, though, isn't the only factor parents should consider when choosing a place to enroll their children, said Adele Holloman, director and owner of Little Friends Schoolhouse in Zephyrhills.

"You need to go and visit the school and see how it looks and how the teacher reacts to the kids," she said.

The Florida Department of Education recently released the latest readiness-rate scores for centers that participate in the voluntary prekindergarten program, which offers free preschool for any 4-year-old through state-approved providers.

The latest statistics show the effect of a voluntary prekindergarten program. According to the figures, released in February, 54 percent of students who completed Florida's voluntary prekindergarten program last year demonstrated overall classroom readiness.

Any private or nonprofit center can apply to become a voluntary prekindergarten and must meet guidelines set by the state. Students who complete the program are tested to determine whether they are ready for kindergarten.

The readiness rating is based on how well students perform in three early learning areas: alphabet recognition, sound recognition and classroom readiness.

About 15 percent of the state's providers are considered low-performing. That means they scored below 214 on the readiness rate.

Providers classified as low-performing two years in a row are placed on probation and must put together improvement plans. Providers whose readiness scores don't improve by year four can no longer offer voluntary prekindergarten.

Three providers in Pasco County scored a perfect 300 for 2007-08. They were Beacon Community Child Development Center in Port Richey, Our Lady of the Rosary Early Learning Center in Land O' Lakes and Primary Training Preschool and Childcare in Land O' Lakes. The lowest Pasco score was 148 for Footprints Preschool & Child Care Center in Hudson.
Little Friends Schoolhouse in Zephyrhills has a good track record with the readiness rate. For 2007-08, the school received a score of 267. In 2006-07, it had a perfect 300.

"This year we were lower than the year before," Holloman said. "We had some children that were hard to teach."
Holloman said her lead teacher, Elizabeth Norris, cares about the rating and works hard to make sure it stays high. She was upset about the drop from 300, Holloman said.
Holloman said her only concern about the readiness rate is that VPK teachers can't force a child to learn. Yet if a child "isn't up to par," the center is penalized.

Holloman, though, said she's not sure there is anything the state could do to improve the system.

Other VPK providers raised similar concerns about the rating system to the Pasco-Hernando Early Learning Coalition two years ago.

Many of the providers, even those receiving high scores, said the system is flawed because it measures simply whether students are ready for kindergarten and doesn't take into account the children's skill level when they arrived at the preschool and the progress they made.

One concern was that prekindergarten providers might lean toward accepting only higher-performing children and try to let go any who are struggling so they can earn a high rating, Lisa Hammond, chairwoman of the coalition, said at the time.

Keyword: VPK, to find a database of prekindergarten programs near you and how the state scored the programs. Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218. Reporter Michele Sager can be reached at (813) 865-1523.

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