Florida is putting hundreds of elementary schools on a new reading-support list for the coming school year. The designation follows state testing showing that serious reading gaps are concentrated in at least one grade level at each campus.
The Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday that the latest list includes schools where at least half of students in any grade scored below Level 3 on state testing. The list covers campuses serving kindergarten through fifth grade across Florida.
A July 24 memorandum from the Florida Department of Education outlines the criteria for the Reading Achievement Initiative for Scholastic Excellence, known as RAISE. Schools can qualify when 50% or more of students in any K-5 grade fall below Level 3 on the latest statewide English Language Arts assessment, or when progress-monitoring data shows that at least half of students in kindergarten through third grade are not on track to pass the state’s third-grade reading test.
What The Reading Support Includes
The state says the RAISE designation is intended to bring direct help from State Regional Literacy Directors, who work with districts and schools facing the largest reading achievement gaps. Those directors provide targeted assistance in literacy coaching, instructional practices, intervention programs and the use of student-performance data, according to the Florida Department of Education.
That support is expected to include professional learning tied to the science of reading and Florida’s B.E.S.T. English Language Arts standards. Schools may also receive help strengthening literacy leadership teams, training reading coaches, selecting evidence-based supplemental materials and building multi-tiered interventions for students who may need additional services.
Schools Must Build Reading Plans Into Improvement Work
The state’s RAISE memo requires every identified campus to create a Schoolwide Improvement Plan that specifically addresses reading strategies in grades K-5. Districts must approve those plans before their scheduled publication in the state’s improvement-management system on November 3, according to the state memo.
For parents, the designation is less a judgment on every student than a warning about where schools need more structured support. A campus can land on the list because of results in a single grade, making the next school year a test of whether added coaching and intervention can turn a blunt statewide metric into better reading outcomes in individual classrooms.
