School Readiness Services

Developmental Screening

All children birth to 5 who participate in the School Readiness Program must receive an annual developmental screening. The purpose of a developmental screening is to capture a snapshot of a child’s development at a single point in time. When screenings are given regularly, they provide information for tracking a child’s developmental progress. Screening helps identify children who may not meet the milestones appropriate for their age and might benefit from further assessment and follow-up. The Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) and the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ®:SE-2) are the developmental screening tools used in the School Readiness Program. The screeners are easy to use, family friendly and create the snapshot needed to catch developmental delays and celebrate milestones. Parents, coalitions or providers can complete the screenings using the ASQ screening tools. Screening results are shared with parents.

Curriculum Approval

Section 1002.88(1)(f), Florida Statutes, requires School Readiness providers to implement curricula approved by the Division of Early Learning that meets Florida's Early Learning and Developmental Standards. Legislation requires the Division of Early Learning to adopt a list of approved curricula that meet the School Readiness Program performance standards and to establish a process for reviewing and approving a provider's curriculum to assess whether it meets the standards. The revised Approved School Readiness curriculum list is available below and will be updated annually after each evaluation period. The annual School Readiness curriculum submission period is open May 1 to June 30.

• Form 7101 School Readiness Policies and Procedures for Curriculum Approval (PDF)
• Form 7102 Curriculum Approval Specifications (PDF)
• Form 7104 SR Curriculum Application and Self-Assessment (Word)
• Form 7104B SR Curriculum Application for Minimal Revisions (Word)
• Form 7107 SR Curriculum Evaluation Reconsideration (Word)
• Approved School Readiness Curricula and Contact List (PDF)

Child Assessments

One of the ways Florida helps ensure quality early learning is by considering how well children do before and after receiving school readiness services. State law requires the Division of Early Learning to review and select child assessment instruments that are valid, reliable and developmentally appropriate. While the statewide assessment system is voluntary, it can help improve school readiness, benefiting more than 135,000 children, 10,000 providers and 15,000 teachers. Child assessments are used to measure growth across the core domains of early childhood development. It provides teachers, child care providers and parents a tool to guide instruction, document learning and development over time. School Readiness child care providers who meet eligibility requirements may receive a differential for conducting child assessments during the three child assessment periods.

There are three assessment periods through the SR program year:

• Assessment Period 1 – August, September, October
• Assessment Period 2 – November, December, January
• Assessment Period 3 – February, March, April

Please contact your local early learning coalition for more information. The Division has contracted with the following companies for child assessments: Assessment Technology, HighScope, and Teaching Strategies. To access the contact information for any of these companies or for additional information, email del.questions@del.fldoe.org.

For more information on any of the statewide initiatives listed on this page, email del.questions@del.fldoe.org.