Education is more than test scores. While Escambia County Public School District focuses on FCAT scores, Florida and 41 other states are moving towards the common core curriculum standards.
NY Times describes common core: “The new standards give specific goals that, by the end of the 12th grade, should prepare students for college work. Book reports will ask students to analyze, not summarize. Presentations will be graded partly on how persuasively students express their ideas. History papers will require reading from multiple sources; the goal is to get students to see how beliefs and biases can influence the way different people describe the same events.”
The State of Florida adopted common core last summer:
“Today, the Florida State Board of Education, in a unanimous and unified vote, approved the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts and Mathematics. This approval marks a vital next step on Florida’s long-standing and successful education reform journey by strengthening our curriculum standards for these critical subjects and laying the groundwork for the comparison of our state’s academic progress with our nation and the world.
“My most sincere appreciation goes out to Commissioner Smith for his heightened involvement in this national effort and in helping to ensure these new standards would not only be rigorous, but would pave the way for a substantial increase in the college and career readiness of our students. His leadership and the work of his talented team have helped us to arrive at this important point and I look forward to seeing the improved outcomes of all Florida students as these new standards are implemented in the coming years.†-State Board of Education Chairman T. Willard Fair Regarding adoption of the Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts and Mathematics, July 2010
Read NY Times article.
Read more about Common Core.