Performance standards and curricula.

(1)(a) The department shall develop and adopt performance standards for students in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program. The performance standards must address the age-appropriate progress of students in the development of:

1. The capabilities, capacities, and skills required under s. 1(b), Art. IX of the State Constitution;

2. Emergent literacy skills grounded in the science of reading, including oral communication, knowledge of print and letters, phonemic and phonological awareness, vocabulary and comprehension development, and foundational background knowledge designed to correlate with the content that students will encounter in grades K-12; and

3. Mathematical thinking and early math skills.

(b) At least every 3 years, the department shall review and, if necessary, revise the performance standards established under this section and align the standards to the standards established by the state board for student performance on the statewide assessments administered pursuant to s. 1008.22.

(2)(a) Each private prekindergarten provider and public school may select or design the curriculum that the provider or school uses to implement the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program, except as otherwise required for a provider or school that fails to meet the minimum change-in-ability established pursuant to s. 1002.68.

(b) Each private prekindergarten provider’s and public school’s curriculum must be developmentally appropriate and must:

1. Be designed to prepare a student for early literacy and provide for instruction in early math skills;

2. Develop students’ background knowledge through a content-rich and sequential knowledge building early literacy curriculum;

3. Enhance the age-appropriate progress of students in attaining the performance standards adopted by the department under subsection (1); and

4. Support student learning gains through differentiated instruction that shall be measured by the coordinated screening and progress monitoring program under s. 1008.25(9).

(c) The department shall adopt procedures for the review and approval of curricula for use by private prekindergarten providers and public schools that fail to meet the minimum change-in-ability scores established pursuant to s. 1002.68. The department shall administer the review and approval process and maintain a list of the curricula approved under this paragraph. Each approved curriculum must meet the requirements of paragraph (b).