The Florida Department of Education (DOE) announces the call for publishers’ submissions of comprehensive prekindergarten curricula for the 2012 Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Curriculum Approval Process.

For the purposes of this approval process, a curriculum is defined as a set of written materials that: (a) is replicable, (b) addresses the use of materials, scheduling, arranging the environment, and interaction between children and adults, either separately or in combination, (c) includes more than activity suggestions and more than theory and pedagogy, (d) is aligned with the Standards approved for use in VPK, (e) is aligned with scientifically-based research.

Only comprehensive curricula will be reviewed for approval during this process. In order to be considered comprehensive, the materials submitted must stand alone and cover the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards in all five domains. If ancillary or supplemental materials are required in order for a given curriculum to be considered comprehensive those additional materials must be submitted with the basic curriculum as a packaged set (i.e., “curriculum package”) and must be made available to providers as a complete curriculum at a set price.

The Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards (2011) can be accessed online at: http://www.fldoe.org/earlylearning/perform.asp.

Information about the process, including draft policies and procedures, draft specifications, a draft timeline, and an opportunity to provide public feedback on the draft documents via online survey will be posted on the Department of Education website at in the near future at: http://www.fldoe.org/earlylearning/curric.asp. Questions related to this announcement may be directed to: Dr. Tara Huls, Educational Policy Consultant or Stuart Greenberg, Executive Director of DOE’s Just Read, Florida and the Office of Early Learning at (850)245-0445 or by email: tara.huls@fldoe.org or stuart.greenberg@fldoe.org, respectively.