On Monday, the Florida Department of Education announced an online survey so parents, teachers and students across the Sunshine State will be able to weigh in on standards as the state government reviews them.
“This new survey enables respondents to provide feedback on each existing standard individually at floridastandardsreview.org. Floridians will still have the opportunity to submit general comments through the original survey link at fldoe.org/standardsreview,” the Education Department noted.
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran weighed in on the new way to gather input on standards.
“We have long decried the endless issues associated with Common Core, and we are taking action to eliminate every last shred of it from Florida’s academic standards. That’s why today we deployed this specific, detailed survey tool that we’ll use to make student-focused changes,” Corcoran said on Monday.
Back in February, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order “to ensure Florida has the best academic standards in the nation by eliminating Common Core and paving the way for Florida students to receive a world-class education to prepare them for jobs of the future” and which “directs Commissioner Richard Corcoran to comprehensively review the academic standards for Florida’s kindergarten through grade twelve students and provide recommended revisions to the Governor by January 1, 2020.”
“This review process is believed to be the first time that any state has had the ability to collect and instantly analyze widespread public opinion on the education standards that drive the K-12 public school curriculum. At floridastandardsreview.org, stakeholders have the ability to seamlessly review each of Florida’s current Mathematics and English Language Arts standards by grade level, with additional content area standards forthcoming for review. For each subject and grade level, respondents are asked to state whether they would keep the standards as is, revise the current standard or eliminate the standards entirely and provide a rationale for their selection. The department will use the recommendations submitted through this process to develop new proposed standards before holding public hearings this fall and preparing the final standards to be submitted to Governor DeSantis,” the Education Department noted.
“In addition to collecting public input, the department is examining standards from across the nation and will also consider benchmarking international standards to ensure Florida has the best standards in the world. The department is consulting with national experts on what is generally accepted as historically exceptional standards and those standards are posted at fldoe.org/standardsreview,” the Department added. “Department leadership has held calls and presented to more than a dozen organizations and stakeholders on the standards review process, including: school district superintendents, staff, teachers and administrators; secondary career and technical education directors; Florida Philanthropic Network; Panhandle Area Educational Consortium; Impact Florida; Florida Children and Youth Cabinet; Florida Association of Colleges of Teacher Education; Consortium of Florida Education Foundations; Florida Association of District School Superintendents; Florida Parent Teacher Association; and representatives from other civil rights and community organizations.”
