FLORIDA STANDARDS: THE STEPPING-STONE TO
HIGHER EDUCATION By Kelli Gemmer
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n an effort to provide students with the best education, Florida is continually looking to set new standards that will raise the bar for education and student achievement. As these standards change, so does the definition of what it means to be “college-ready.” This brings about significant changes to the higher education landscape, especially for teacher preparation programs. The development of the latest standards began in 2009 when Florida was awarded $700 million as part of the Race to the Top competitive grant program for the improvement of public education. As part of this program, Florida and 44 other states opted to implement new standards developed by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and other stakeholders, including teachers, school administrators, parents and experts. These entities shared a common goal as they developed these standards without intervention by the federal government. Referred to as the Common Core State Standards, these benchmarks were released in February 2010 and were adopted by Florida on July 27, 2010. The Common Core State Standards represent the first significant attempt at creating a national set of education standards. They create consistency
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across grade levels, states, and countries by establishing clear and consistent standards for English/Language Arts and Mathematics in an attempt to provide more focus on skills that help students move up and keep them from falling behind. However, the public had many concerns when informed about Florida’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. As a result, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) allowed public input to create new standards in Fall 2013 through three channels: public meetings throughout the state, a website specifically dedicated to public input, and direct email to the FLDOE for comments and concerns. Additionally, Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order that separated Florida from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College Careers (PARCC), a national consortium working with Common Core to develop assessments of the standards, in August 2013. This separation allowed Florida to design a test specifically for its own needs instead of using the assessment designed for Common Core. After reviewing thousands of suggestions from parents and teachers, the standards were amended accordingly and the finalized new standards were