Comprehensive Evaluation of Florida’s FLaRE Grant

Florida is one of 17 states awarded a Reading Excellence Act State Grant in the spring of 1999. Entitled the Florida Literacy and Reading Excellence (FLaRE) Grant, this $26 million grant was the largest single competitive grant ever received by Florida from the U.S. Department of Education. FLaRE encompasses state and local initiatives that concentrate on Florida’s primary goal of having all children reading on grade level by the end of grade three. In the summer of 2000, the Department awarded 34 Reading Improvement Grants and 14 Tutorial Assistance Grants to local school districts. Over the lifetime of the grant, a total of $22,100,000 will be awarded in Reading Improvement Grants and $2,600,000 in Tutorial Assistance Grants. In addition, the FLaRE grant included funding for a new FLaRE Center located at the University of Central Florida to develop and disseminate throughout the state reading and professional development services and materials.

The Department of Education has contracted with Evaluation Systems Design, Inc. (ESDI) of Tallahassee, Florida, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the second year’s (2000-2001) implementation, activities, and outcomes of the FLaRE grant. The evaluation will incorporate and integrate formative and summative components. A final report for the second year of the evaluation will be completed by September, 2001. Specific activities will include:

Conducting interviews with key stakeholders in the districts and schools.

Conducting onsite visits, observations, and face-to-face interviews in 15 districts and over 50 schools.

Collecting and analyzing student achievement data (FCAT, SAT-9, and others).

Developing and disseminating surveys to participating staff of Florida schools.

Analyzing and synthesizing data collected from the evaluation.

Generating a Final Report for the second year of the study.

If you have any questions concerning this study, please contact:

Dr. Constance C. Bergquist
President Evaluation Systems Design, Inc.
5145 Pimlico Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32308
PH 850-893-9504 FAX 850-893-9569
esdi@talstar.com

Mr. Don Griesheimer
Florida Department of Education
325 W. Gaines Street, Room 424
Tallahassee, FL 32399
PH 850-488-5011 FAX 850-921-8523
grieshd@mail.doe.state.fl.us