Public's Opinion Sought On New Florida Academic Standards

FLORIDA — The Florida Department of Education is giving the public the opportunity to offer public input on the recently revised drafts of Florida’s academic standards in several content areas.

“Public input is a vitally important part of creating Florida’s academic standards,” said Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran. “The listening tour gives the public an opportunity to share their thoughts on the standards and I encourage them to participate. Their thoughts and ideas are integral to the success of the process and, because of their valuable contributions, we will have better standards to guide instruction. This transparent process is essential to ensure that Florida students get a world-class education that prepares them for future academic and life success.”

Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Education opened Rule 6A-1.09401, Florida Administrative Code, for rule development to adopt or revise student academic standards for several content areas.

These include civics and government (revised), Holocaust education (new), character education (new), B.E.S.T. English language arts (ELA) standards (technical and minor revisions that will not affect implementation), substance use and abuse standards (new), and Access Points – Alternate Academic Achievement Standards for the B.E.S.T. ELA and Mathematics Standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (new).

The revised drafts were crafted based on feedback the Department of Education received over the last several months from Florida teacher experts and the education community.

Based on school district and public feedback, the latest drafts of the civics and government and Holocaust education standards are now posted at http://www.fldoe.org/standardsreview/.

The latest drafts for character education and substance use and abuse will be posted in the coming days.

The following opportunities for feedback are available through June 10 at noon:

• Civics and government survey (open): https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6360487/Civics-and-Government-Standards-2
• Holocaust education survey (open): https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6360477/Holocaust-Education-Standards-2
• Character dducation survey (opening soon): https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6360469/Character-Education-Standards-2
• Substance use and abuse survey (opening soon): https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6358621/SubstanceUseStandards
• Access Points: Email to BESESupport@fldoe.org.