Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Staff ReportsJune 29, 2017

The Florida Council of 100 on Thursday released its “Horizons 2040 Project: Prekindergarten Through Grade 3,” establishing a “long-term educational vision, mission, and set of values for Florida and ‘beacons’ to light the way for grades PreK-3 over the next 25 years,” a press release announced. “While the state has a five-year, short-term plan to guide […]

Shannon NickinsonOctober 13, 2015

Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found that poor children benefited from the academic boost that the state voluntary prekindergarten program gave them. But the benefit didn’t last when they moved through elementary school. The researchers who conducted the five-year $6 million study had conclusions about why poor kids who got a boost from VPK didn’t […]

Shannon NickinsonMay 17, 2015

They are a bright bunch, the class of 2028. The students in Emily Ellis’ VPK class at Lincoln Park Primary School are as warm and bubbly as any crop of 4- and 5-year-olds you are likely to meet, quick with a hug and big on teamwork as they work to “keep the Earth clean” raking […]

Guest AuthorJune 19, 2014

Years ago, I was an elementary schoolteacher. Those years imprinted on me many valuable lessons, the most important of which is that academically successful children from the earliest grades are more likely to enjoy school. This belief is backed up statistically: An overwhelming 74 percent of all students who fail to read proficiently by the […]

Tag: Voluntary Prekindergarten
Millican Hall is located on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. (Rachael Gregory/Fresh Take Florida)

Florida Council of 100 Releases ‘Horizons 2040 Project’ report

Shannon Nickinson: Kids need more than pre-K to overcome poverty's obstacles

Shannon Nickinson: Early Education Summit's goal is tax money to create Escambia Children's Services Council

Toni Jennings: Florida’s investment in early literacy prepares kids for success