Manatee sees rise in Pre-K achievement

MANATEE — The achievement level of students who attended Manatee County’s voluntary pre-school program last year improved, reflecting a better job by the agencies providing the programs, state numbers show.

Of the county’s 116 voluntary pre-kindergarten providers, 74, or 64 percent, were rated as moderate-to-high performing providers, according to kindergarten readiness scores released by the state Department of Education this week.

Only 13 — or 11 percent — were rated as low performers. The remaining 29 were not rated because either some of the children did not complete the program or too few were screened.

The numbers are an improvement from 2007-08 when 18 percent were rated as low-performing providers. Manatee County’s 11 percent also beat out the 2008-09 statewide low-performing average of 13.5 percent.

“We’ve had a dramatic decrease of low-performing providers in Manatee County and I’m extremely proud of the work that has been done by the coalition and our providers,” said Paul Sharff, chief executive officer of the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, the nonprofit organization that oversees the legislative-mandated program created to prepare every 4-year-old for kindergarten. “With our providers’ help, I think this year, if we can continue to work at it, we can do even better.”

The decrease in low-performing providers is praised by parents and educators, who say it proves the six-year-old state-funded program is working.

Readiness rates are determined by student screenings given by teachers during the first 30 days of kindergarten. They are rated on a 200-point scale based on how well their students performed in alphabet recognition, sound recognition and classroom readiness.

The average statewide readiness rate for the 2008-09 year was 163.

In previous years, including the 2007-08 school year, providers were graded on a 300-point scale. But state officials made scoring changes for the 2008-09 school year because officials wanted to see how well kindergartners could sound out words and added the measure to the kindergarten screening test.

Of the 13 low-performing Manatee VPK providers, Children’s Academy of Southwest Florida South netted the lowest score with 113. Oneco Child Development Center came in with the second lowest score at 114.

The remaining low performers are A+ Growing Academy, Children First at Braden Avenue, Education Time, Grandma Jones Learning Center, Happy Go Lucky, Learning With Love, Little People’s Place, MCCA Head Start High School at Manatee, Mind and Body Children’s Academy, Daughtrey Elementary and Tiny Tots University.

The 74 that performed well included six with perfect scores: A Readiness Learning Academy, Creative Kids, Jump Start Preschool of the Arts, Kids Plus Preschool Inc., Primrose School at Lakewood Ranch and Braden River Elementary.

High-performer reaction

Kristy Laine’s 4-year-old Kennedy attends Readiness Learning Academy on State Road 70 in Bradenton and chalked the school’s score up to special physical curriculum provided there.