On September 7, 2001, Governor Jeb Bush signed Executive Order 01-260(PDF) designating Just Read, Florida! as a comprehensive and coordinated reading initiative.
Monday, January 23, 2012- students from Sarasota County will join First Lady Ann Scott and author Peggy Nolan as they kick off the week's events with students from Sarasota Middle School. Students will also kick off the Million Minute Marathon - giving us a jumpstart to our 20 Million Minute Goal!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - students from Orange County will participate in the "Horse Tales Literacy Project." Students will experience the "Black Stallion Show" as well as various literacy center activities.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - PSA contest winners will be announced at the Daytona International Speedway.
Thursday, January 26, 2012 - "Authors Across Florida!" authors will visit classrooms all across the state, encouraging and motivating students to read their favorite stories as well as encourage them to explore their talents and write a book.
School districts will collect and submit their Million Minute Marathon data- striving to reach 20 MILLION!
Take the Lead and Read race car tour visiting numerous districts and schools during the months of January and February.
Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten classrooms will participate in a simultaneous reading of Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr. and contribute to the Million Minute Marathon on January 23, 2012. Please visit the Florida's Office of Early Learning website for more details.
" The book "Health Florida Farms" will be shared in schools across the state to highlight locally grown and raised commodities and the hard working farmers who bring these products to our grocery stores, restaurants, homes, and schools. This is a collaborative effort between Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Department of Education to highlight locally grown and raised commodities. Commissioner Putnam will be reading "Healthy Florida Farms" on January 23, 2012 to kick off Celebrate Literacy Week to a 3rd grade reading group at Kate Sullivan Elementary School.
Mission and Goals
Train highly effective reading coaches
Train principals and teachers on effective reading instruction integrated through-out all content areas
Provide parents with strategies for assisting their children in reading
Provide TA to districts in the development and implementation of research-based reading instruction (K-12 Plan)
Collaborate with FCRR to provide information on research-based reading
Work with teacher preparation programs to integrate research-based reading instructional strategies into teacher prep programs
Florida Statutes and State Board Rules that Provide Authority for Just Read, Florida!
Presently, the standards adopted in 2007, now called the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in Reading/ Language Arts, are the standards being taught in the classroom and assessed on the FCAT 2.0 Reading Assessment.
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts, which includes reading standards, were adopted by the Florida State Board of Education on July 27, 2010. In the summer of 2010, the Florida Department of Education convened a state committee to determine if additional content (up to 15%) was needed to satisfy English Language Arts requirements in Florida. Based on the results of this study, in the fall of 2010, the Department recommended no additions be made to the original CCSS adopted in July 2010. There is a phase-in schedule for implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This school year, Kindergarten will implement these standards. The CCSS are to be fully implemented K-12 by the 2013-2014 school year.