The Florida Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Program has been contracted by the Florida Office of Early Learning/Preschool Development Grant to conduct a pilot project aimed at testing the delivery of early childhood online digital supports to improve children's school readiness skills. Funding for year one of the project is $313,384.46. The test conducted should determine the usability, usefulness, and usage of the various digital supports and, if possible, the direct effect of the digital supports on children's school readiness skills.
The state is working with Dr. Tracy Payne, CFS Assistant Research Professor and Director of the Florida HIPPY Training and Technical Assistance Center, on the design of the study which will include the release of an Intent-to-Negotiate with Application Developers to identify the mobile applications that will be tested in the study.