Lazaro Aleman, ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County Commission and Florida Institute of Education at the University of North Florida (FIE) recently renewed their agreement allowing the latter to continue providing specified services to the Jefferson County R.J. Bailar Public Library's literacy program.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which the commission approved on Thursday evening, Feb. 15, extends the agreement for another year, so that the FIE can continue to provide counseling, support and evaluation services to the Jefferson County Literacy Alliance (JLA).
The cost of the annual services, per the agreement, is $79,908, which is to be paid in three installments of $40,000, $19,954 and $19,954, respectively.
The aim of the partnership, as described in a scope of work attachment to the MOU, is to assist the JLA continue to pursue its work of raising literacy readiness and reading achievement in the county.
As part of the contract, the FIE staff is to provide training, coaching and instructional support to the JLA, as well as providing technical assistance, distributing books and educational materials, and scheduling and conducting child assessments, among other activities.
The funding for the program comes from $453,000 that the library received in 2016 from an anonymous donor. The donor's one stipulation was that the library develop a three-to-four year program and budget for the use of the funds.
The plan that the library staff and FIE ultimately developed to meet the donor's requirement and qualify for the funding included creating a new curriculum and classroom support for participating daycare centers, establishing a literacy-mentoring program, and sponsoring various community events to help children and their parents build the necessary literacy skills.
“Combined with the library’s central role in the community, and the academic expertise of FIE, the funds should have a measurable approach on early literacy and school readiness in Jefferson County,” Library Director Natalie Binder said at the
program's launch.
The partnership, in brief, aims to achieve three overarching goals during its three-year lifetime.The first is to make early literacy and reading core values. The second is to raise early literacy readiness and reading achievement. And the third is to raise families’ awareness of the importance of early literacy as the foundation for future learning, as well as helping parents support their children’s early literacy growth.
To achieve these goals, the partnership is using a three-pronged approach. Namely, it seeks to strengthen the early literacy experiences of children enrolled in the childcare centers; provide additional literacy experience for young children using oral and written language mentors; and engage parents’ in their children’s literacy growth at home.