Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) Scores

The Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) is administered to assess the readiness of each child for kindergarten within the first 30 school days of each academic school year. The FLKRS includes a subset of the Early Childhood Observation System™ (ECHOS™) and the first two measures of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills™ (DIBELS™), Letter Naming Fluency and Initial Sound Fluency, to gather information on a child’s development in emergent literacy.

• The formula used to calculate FLKRS scores and VPK Readiness Rates is identical. However, individual county scores for the two measures differ because VPK Readiness Rates only measure children who completed a VPK Provider Program, whereas FLKRS scores measure all children entering kindergarten. In the 2007-2008 school year, approximately 55% of the children taking the FLKRS completed a VPK program.
  • The chart below compares FLKRS scores for Pinellas County and Florida for 2006 and 2007. The scores were developed from the ECHOS and DIBELS scores reported by the Florida Department of Education.
    • Pinellas County’s FLKRS score in 2007 totaled 230, a slight improvement over 2006 and modestly better than the state average of 224.
       

·         ECHOS

ECHOS (Early Childhood Observation System) is a continuous observational assessment system for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten through grade 2.   It offers a clear picture of how each child is progressing toward national and state standards and toward meeting grade-level expectations. ECHOS measures benchmarks in seven domains based on the guidelines and standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and other national organizations.  The seven domains are: language and literacy, mathematics, social and personal skills, science, social studies, physical development and fitness, and creative arts.  Teachers assign one of four progress level ratings to each child: Not yet demonstrating, emerging, progressing, and consistently demonstrates. However, data provided by the FLDOE combines emerging and progressing into one category.

o        In 2007, 51% of Pinellas County kindergarten students were classified as consistently demonstrating, a gain of four percentage points over 2006 and three percentage points better than the state as a whole. The remaining 10% of students scored as not yet demonstrating, two percentage points below the state average.

·         DIBELS

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development.  They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills.  The DIBELS measures used for the FLKRS are initial sounds fluency, and letter naming fluency.

Initial Sounds Fluency

The DIBELS Initial Sounds Fluency (ISF) measure is a standardized, individually administered measure of phonological awareness that assesses a child's ability to recognize and produce the initial sound in an orally presented word.

o    One-third of Pinellas County’s kindergarten students were considered to be moderate to high risk in 2007 and in need of intervention.  Although this was the same percentage as in 2006, it was a significant improvement over 2004/2005 and was lower than the state average.

Letter Naming Fluency

DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) is a standardized, individually administered test that provides another measure of risk. Students are presented with a page of upper- and lower-case letters arranged in random order and are asked to name as many letters as they can.

o    Pinellas County students have made significant progress in letter naming fluency since 2004, with the percentage of students in the moderate/high risk category declining from 35% in 2004 to 27% in 2007.  This improvement parallels the progress made throughout the state.

Funded Agencies:

Coordinated Child Care – 5 Star Improvement System (QIS)
Coordinated Child Care - Child Care Quality Improvement Initiative (Pilot)
Coordinated Child Care - Community Contracts
Coordinated Child Care - Community Contracts - Community Pride-Gateway Homeless Project
Coordinated Child Care - Community Contracts - Early Head Start Match
Coordinated Child Care - Community Contracts - R'Club-Pinellas Village Child Care
Coordinated Child Care - Community Contracts - United Methodist-Children of the World Preschool
Coordinated Child Care - Family and Provider Resources
Coordinated Child Care - LIEF and Child Care Scholarships & Screening
Coordinated Child Care - Special Services
Coordinated Child Care - Universal Screening for At Risk Youth (Pilot)
Directions - Early Childhood Consultation Services
Pinellas County Licensing Board - Licensing Board
SCCMH - Therapeutic Preschool




Read More About It:

Promising Practices: http://www.promisingpractices.net/research_ready.asp

Engaging Parents in Education:  Lessons From Five Parental Information and Resource Centers
http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/parents/parentinvolve/index.html
(Source:  U.S. Department of Education)

The purpose of this guide is to explain "how to" strategies that the Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs) use
to improve or expand their parental involvement programs in public schools.
 

Disclaimer        Privacy Statement