COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 107
May 20, 2005
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Early
Intervention Reading Initiative Application Process for the 2005-2006
School Year |
The Early Intervention Reading Initiative was
established by Chapter 924, 1997 Acts of
Assembly, to serve children in kindergarten or first grade. Beginning in
the fiscal year 2001, the Governor and the General Assembly provided funding to
expand the Early Intervention Reading Initiative to include students in
kindergarten through the third grade.
The purpose of the initiative is to provide early
reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through the third
grade who demonstrate deficiencies reflected in their performance on a
diagnostic screening tool.
Attachment A is a chart outlining the screening
process for the school year 2005-2006. All screening results must be reported
to the PALS office at the University of Virginia via the PALS website.
Participating divisions are required to use the state-provided diagnostic
screening instrument, PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening), or a
diagnostic screening instrument approved by the Department of Education.
Funding for the initiative is
based on the state's share of the cost of providing two and one-half hours of
additional instruction each week for an estimated number of students in each
school division on a student-to-teacher ratio of five-to-one. The estimated
number of students in each school division shall be based on the actual
percentage of students who are determined to need services based on the results
of the diagnostic screening administered in the fall of 2004 for kindergarten
and in the spring of 2005 for grades 1 through 3. Funding shall be based on a percentage of the estimated number of
eligible students as follows:
Kindergarten - 100% of eligible students
Grade
1 - 50% of eligible students
Grade
2 - 50% of eligible students
Grade 3 -
25% of eligible students
School divisions that did not
participate in 2004-2005 will be funded using free lunch eligibility as a
proxy. For these divisions, funding
shall be calculated by multiplying the projected number of students in each
school divisions fall membership in kindergarten through grade 3 by the
estimated percentage of students eligible for the free lunch program in that
school division to determine the number of students in need of services. Funding using the free lunch proxy will be
adjusted by the same percentages of eligible students as shown above.
In an effort to determine
spring 2005 shipping numbers, division contact persons were
asked in April to pre-register online via the PALS website. Attachment B is
the superintendents certification form to apply for the incentive funds
available under the Early Intervention Reading Initiative in fiscal year 2006.
Fifty percent of the Early Intervention Reading
Initiative funds are projected to be disbursed in December 2005, upon receipt
of the superintendents certification form. The remaining 50 percent of funds
will be released in February 2006 following a report of the number of children
identified and served. This information will be supplied to the Department of
Education by the PALS office.
The Virginia Department of Education and the
University of Virginias Curry School of Education have collaborated with
Wireless Generation to make PALS available on Wireless Generations handheld
computer software platform, known as mCLASS:PALS. As part of Virginias Reading First implementation, Reading First
schools will be using this software.
mCLASS:PALS is also available for purchase by non-Reading First Virginia
schools.
Questions regarding funding should be
addressed to Kent Dickey (Kent.Dickey@doe.virginia.gov),
budget director, at (804) 225-2025. Questions regarding the PALS online
services should be addressed to Allison Drake (PALS@virginia.edu), PALS
co-project manager, at (888) 882-7257. Questions regarding programmatic issues
should be addressed to Ginna Glover (Ginna.Glover@doe.virginia.gov),
reading and English specialist, at (804) 786-1997.
JLD/VJG/vdg
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/inf107a.pdf
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2005/inf107b.pdf