- May 2, 2024
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Days after Gov. Rick Scott said Florida will withdraw from a commitment to implement a national test for the Common Core State Standards, Flagler County education officials are preparing for the change in direction.
The test, designed by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, has not been adopted yet. The state had planned to adopt it in the upcoming school year.
“We are just holding steady at this point, making sure the teachers are teaching standards that will be assessed,” Flagler County School District Superintendent Janet Valentine said.
Any test adopted by the state in the coming year will also be based around Common Core, which has been gradually implemented in Florida since July 2010.
Scott’s announcement that the state will drop its commitment to the PARCC test in favor of competitive bids on a test to replace the FCAT came with an order to the state Department of Education to discontinue its role as PARCC’s fiscal agent.
In a letter to State Board of Education Chair Gary Chartrand, Scott characterized the test as “federal overreach,” a complaint often voiced by Common Core critics who say the standards amount to federal control of educational decisions they believe should be made at the state and local level.
The standards were created by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the representative organizations of state governors and state education commissioners.
Scott has asked for public input and a series of meetings to discuss possible changes to the standards used in Florida.
“From the governors point of view, I think he recognizes that there was bad communication, and he’s trying to open up,” Flagler School Board Chairman Andy Dance said. “Even though it’s late in the game, he’s going back out for public input.”
But if Florida ends up with a test and set of standards that differs from those of the states using Common Core and the PARCC test, that could be problematic, Valentine said.
“The disadvantage is that it’s difficult to compare apples to oranges,” she said. “The idea behind it was that we would have a common set of standards and some alignment.”
‘Completely different way of thinking’
Flagler County High School and Virtual Curriculum Instruction Director Diane Dyer said she’s gotten positive feedback on Common Core from teachers.
The standards apply to English language arts and mathematics, and encourage teachers in various subject areas to integrate literacy and mathematics-related exercises into their classes.
“At first people where saying, ‘Well, I’m not a reading teacher,’ but as we’ve rolled it out and they’ve been trained, teachers are embracing the standards,” Dyer said. “In science class, you could be working on your reading standards by reading very complex texts. There are math practices in science classes and social studies classes, like being able to read graphs and read charts.”
The district has planned more training for teachers working to adjust to Common Core standards, Dyer said. Reading coaches are already helping teachers in subject areas outside of English language arts integrate literacy-related content into their classrooms.
“It’s a completely different way of thinking,” she said. “It has been beneficial.”
