The Lift Every Voice for Literacy Grant funded by the Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program consists of two components: to increase the reading achievement of struggling readers while increasing the music proficiency of students, and to provide teacher professional development. The grant requires an external evaluation team that consists of reading, music, and research specialists. An Agreement for Technical Services has been developed with Marie C. Biggs, MA, University of South Florida, to serve as an evaluator to:

Collect baseline data

Monitor/organize/analyze outcome reading data

Devise a training syllabus for reading professional development components

Provide reading training

Conduct classroom observations

Conduct interviews/surveys with participants

Goal 5 – The District will close the FCAT achievement gap by a minimum of 10 percentage points as reported by No Child Left Behind.

Funds of $7,500 for external evaluators are included in the district special revenue/federal programs budget through the Lift Every Voice for Literacy Grant, Project 1282. There is no additional cost to the District.