(A) In § 63-11-1720, the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Board of Trustees may carry out its assigned functions by developing a comprehensive long-range initiative for improving early childhood development, increasing school readiness and literacy, establishing results-oriented measures and objectives, and assessing whether services provided by First Steps Partnerships to children and families are meeting the goals and achieving the results established in this chapter. The board shall do the following to fulfill these duties before July 1, 2015:

(1) in consultation with the State Board of Education, and with the advice and consent of that board, adopt a description of school readiness that includes specific:

(a) characteristics and development levels of a ready child that must include, but are not limited to, emerging literacy, numeracy, and physical, social, and emotional competencies;

(b) characteristics of school, educators, and caregivers that the board considers necessary to create an optimal learning environment for the early years of students’ lives; and

(c) characteristics of the optimal environment which would lead to the readiness of students and their continued success;

(2) establish specific benchmarks and objectives for use by the board of trustees, local partnership boards, and any agency that administers a program to benefit preschool children. The benchmarks and objectives must be approved by the board and posted on the website of the Office of First Steps;

(3) determine whether state and local programs and activities are effective and contribute to achieving the goals established in § 59-152-30; and

(4) publish and distribute a list of approved evidence-based and evidence-informed programs.

(B) The board of trustees shall review the school readiness description, benchmarks, and objectives and adopt any revisions it considers appropriate before December 31, 2014, again before December 31, 2019, and every five years afterward.