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Florida Appears Ready To Pull Out Of Common Core Standards Tests
September 24, 2013
Florida appears ready to exit a multistate effort to develop new Common Core Standards tests to measure student learning, abandoning the initiative amid conservative activists’ concerns that it represents federal overreach into the state’s education system.
Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order Monday ordering the state to end its role in helping handle the financial affairs of the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The project, generally known as PARCC, has received a $186 million federal grant to develop tests for the “Common Core Standards” currently being taught in Florida schools.
Abandoning PARCC would not mean the state is ending the use of Common Core, though another action Scott took Monday could open that door. Instead, leaving the tests would mean that Florida officials would have to develop or buy another testing system to measure whether students are learning the new material.
Scott also called for the Florida Department of Education to hold three public hearings around the state on Common Core by Nov. 1. In a letter to State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand, Scott said the hearings and other forms of public input should “identify any opportunities to strengthen or risks for federal intrusion in Florida’s standards.”
State officials say they’re confident that new assessments could be up and running in time for the 2014-15 school year.
Scott’s order represents a partial victory for a group of activists who have worried that despite PARCC’s evolution as a state-led project, it could become a tool for the U.S. Department of Education to direct education policy nationwide. The governor echoed those concerns in a letter to Chartrand explaining his decision.
“To be clear, as Governor, I support Florida’s high academic standards and strongly reject overreach into those standards and other areas of our education system by the federal government, including state assessments, curriculum and instructional materials,” Scott wrote.
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart did not specifically list a concern that Scott had when asked why he was worried about the federal government’s involvement.
“I think that this is the way for us to ensure that there is not federal overreach,” she said.
Republican leaders who had already urged Scott to abandon the tests praised him for the executive order. But they suggested they were still on board with Common Core.
“The fact is that we had a system of evaluation that hadn’t been invented yet that we were being asked to buy into,” said Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. “I don’t think that was fair for our students, for our teachers or for our families or our employers.”
“But the idea of having high standards — and I think Florida has helped lead the nation in that — is an idea that we’re not backing up one bit from,” he continued.
Stewart said that PARCC could still win a competitive bidding process aimed at coming up with the testing system Florida will used. Given Scott’s language about the tests, though, that seemed unlikely. Still, at least one key lawmaker on education issues held out hope.
“I think PARCC is on a respirator, if you will,” said Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee. “And so what we have to do is, if it’s going to revive, Florida needs to say, ‘This is what we want, and if you can do it, fine, and if you can’t, fine. We’ll try another route.’ ”
Whatever the decision, the state has to move soon, said Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future. That organization, founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, has strongly supported Common Core.
“I urge the Commissioner of Education and the State Board of Education to move quickly and carefully to make decisions regarding Florida’s assessment. … In order to effectively field test Common Core-aligned assessments next spring, their decisions must be made soon,” Levesque said in a statement issued by the foundation.
The fact that PARCC could return caused some concern for activists who have fought against Common Core generally and the tests specifically. John Hallman, who lobbies for conservative groups like the Florida Campaign for Liberty and Liberty First Network, expressed cautious optimism about Scott’s move.
“On the other hand, I’ll be honest — I’m skeptical,” he said.
Randy Osborne, who has lobbied against Common Core in the Legislature on behalf of the Florida Eagle Forum, said the state should remain opposed to PARCC.
“I think that, as we move through this process, that the state will do the right thing, the legislators will do the right thing and say that PARCC is something we can’t accept,” he said.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Comments
14 Responses to “Florida Appears Ready To Pull Out Of Common Core Standards Tests”
Further, the use of foul language in a book is not necessarily intended to promote the use by normal, decent people. In this case it would involve showing how some people actually talk, think, act. The result of such actions brings its own condemnation.
Again, this is not pushing this book, I don’t currently wish to read it. I just want truth if at all possible.
David for noble quests
THE DOER,
You seem to think I’m pushing this book. I’m not. I just prefer people not mischaracterize anything to “prove” their point. Likewise, calling the effort a federal effort is questionable. Some states favored a common agreement regarding educational standards. The feds offered to support their efforts — as they do so much in so many matters.
Unless the purpose of the book were sexual titilation, it is NOT pornographic no matter what happens in the book just as the activities of Lot’s daughters did not promote incest in the Bible
Dear David Hule Green,
I am glad to know you have done some research on that one particular book listed as being “highly suggested for the 11th exemplar text for Florida’s Common Core.” Maybe you should try reading it. If you did so, you would see that this book is written in fragmented points of view; that is, primarily the perpetrator’s and the child’s, but also many other characters’ points of view.
If this book is the result of this author’s reaction to violence and racism, so be it. There is no place for this in an approved reading list. It is pornographic, and I promise you, if parents knew what was really in the book, they would not approve. There is no way I would even venture to quote some of the specific lines in the book, but I marked 10 pages of extremely objectionable material (for high schoolers) as I was reading, especially the “F—” word, the “C—” word,, and the discussion of the girl’s female body part. You go ahead and think kids need to be exposed to this in high school. I don’t know of a teacher in our area who would subject herself or himself to discussing this novel, for the sake of what our Federal Government thinks is educational, in front of a bunch of high schoolers!
“Coach” made some important points of how the federal government is using the funding for education to entice states to adopt the Common Core without a lot of public discussion or notification of what that means for our children.
We need local control over what we want taught to our children.
Besides the objectionable material in the literature selections, I am concerned about the national database and the talk of using “facial expression cameras, posture analysis seats, pressure computer mice, eye tracking devices, and computer programs to track a student’s mood be used in schools.14 Keeping tabs on the physiological activity of schoolchildren is the trajectory of the data systems developing alongside the Common Core. ”
Even your *thoughts* will be monitored??!!
“Does the Common Core include a national database?
The Common Core website asserts that ‘there are no data collection requirements of states adopting the Common Core State Standards,” but the actions of the Department of Education prove otherwise.1′
“The Common Core and the enlarged data systems containing detailed student information are not severable. It is almost impossible for states to implement the Common Core without agreeing to help build one of the biggest and most detailed data systems in American history. ”
http://www.hslda.org/commoncore/Topic10.aspx
Everyone is for higher standards for education but Common Core is connected to too many questionable practices and not enough public scrutiny. Let’s take a closer look and not be hooked in by the rhetoric.
REGARDING:
“there is a novel called “The Bluest Eyes” by Toni Morrison”
Actually, it is The Bluest Eye. Singular.
It’s a little off subject but I’m just curious, does anyone alive really believe this lady who was once a little black girl wants little girls to be abused that way?
In the eleventh grade I had to read a number of novels which were not all happiness and beauty. Does anybody really think Steinbeck wanted people displaced by the Dust Bowl, forced to live in near slavery conditions in a world for them gone mad even as her twisted father’s actions drove Pecola toward madness?
AND
“about a young black girl who is constantly raped by her father (and later impregnated by him.)”
Not constantly, but more than enough for an 11 year-old and the impregnation didn’t happen later, but during a rape.
AND
“all from the perpetrator’s point of view. ”
Actually using the omniscient point of view, not that of the drunk father/rapist and sometimes from the point of view of the little girl.
Reporting the existence of such things is not support of such things. Some may be afraid if eleventh graders read such things, they might realize they themselves have been abused. Those would not want them to realize the truth.
I wouldn’t want to read it, but that doesn’t make it pornography nor does it mean the readers are intended to be like the people in the book. In large part it was the author’s reaction to the prejudice and racism within the black community.
David for thinking humans
safe children
I am torn about my feelings on common core.
As a math teacher (Florida resident/Alabama teacher) who works with the common core standards everyday, I feel that common core standards (as it relates to high school level math) do promote higher level thinking skills & depth of knowledge. This is done by taking abstract mathematic concepts & applying them to real world situations. I cannot speak for the other subject areas & how they are addressed in common core. I have a son who has just started kindergarten and, so far, have been pleased to see the math work he has been given, & the expectations that have been put on him.
I don’t see how it is a negative for students to have pressure put on them. Are students over-tested? Yes, to a degree they are, and I believe some of the testing is unnecessary. However, will there not be pressure in post-educational settings? Do any of you have pressure on your job or place of business? Why is it so imperative that we shield students from pressure or high expectations? In my opinion as an educator, that type of “protection” is a crutch to lean on when student performance is not up to standards.
I also have some misgivings about how common core is being implemented with regard to the role of the federal government. By tying a portion of federal education monies to the testing arm of the common core, the federal government is attempting to strong arm states into adopting this new set of standards. That is a thinly veiled attempt at coercion that is being passed off as “what’s best for our students”. The day a federal bureaucrat is Washington knows what’s best for students in classrooms in Alabama, or Florida, or any state is the same day that they are qualified to make decisions on individual citizens’ healthcare (but I digress).
In summary, it is my belief that the root of common core (at least for math) is noble & beneficial; the implementation of common core is the Pandora’s box that is being opened that leads to the corruption & degradation of our students, as well as the erosion of our protection from a coercive government that has overstepped its constitutional limits. Perhaps this is where the outrage should be directed over the issue of common core.
First of all, the author commends The Doer for sharing real “truth.” Contemplating “truth,” it appears some of those interested believe objective standards of educational measure should be desireable. However, according to international studies by Harvard in 2012 the US ranked 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading among our foreign peers. With that in mind, it really IS stressful one would consider an objective measure yielding these results as desirable.
J for thinking outside the box
I agree with NHS student. Teachers spend all year teaching FCAT and not so much about real subjects.{I am sure they would like the freedom to teach their specialty} Students end up not knowing very much about any subjects. I’ve heard this hard core is much harder. My student has enough pressure to just do well, they don’t need more. If the state needs to do testing then test and don’t worry over it. Let the teachers teach and the students will learn and enjoy school again.
It is interesting to see there are those who do not want an objective measure of how well their children learn the things we think they should know.
It really isn’t stressful if they actually learned and the whole world will soon know the truth anyway.
David for truth
I pray that common core will be removed from our schools
It is corrupt. Lets unite together in prayer to see this removed from our schools.
To be honest, they should not have any test like that and they need to take out the FCAT. It does nothing for us, there is no point in it. We have to take exams after out class and if we passed it then we learned something. We should not be taking the FCAT we should be learning about how to survive in the future.
As I have been told this new testing they are trying to bring forth to our kids the PARCC will be more difficult than the FCAT they take now..If you have kids in school ,well you know the stress that the FCAT puts on our kids already, so why would we want to make school even more stressful on them.
Pull OUT.
To all of you parents and citizens who have chosen to let other people fight this battle: WAKE UP! The time has come for you to get involved, even if you don’t have kids in the school system any longer. Guess what? These children will be your neighbors one day. It’s time for you to care. The only hope we have in our area is that we have wise teachers who REFUSE to submit to some of these exemplar texts that are being touted as being educational. Most of the experienced teachers know better. They know that advanced math is important for college success (contrary to what Common Core is encouraging.) They also know that the classics are preferable than presidential edicts of speeches by Michelle Obama about obesity.
Here is an example of what your Common Core is pushing. On the 11th grade exemplar text list, there is a novel called “The Bluest Eyes” by Toni Morrison. This novel is about a young black girl who is constantly raped by her father (and later impregnated by hi). She wishes every day to be pale skin with blue eyes; thereby, hoping for a normal life. Throughout the book, there are graphic depictions of incest, rape and pedophilia, all from the perpetrator’s point of view. The author, in fact, actually has stated that she wanted the reader to feel as if he/she were co-conspirators in the acts. Never, ever does she even depict these horrendous acts as wrong. Instead she uses words like, “tender,” “innocent,” and “friendly.”
What educational benefit does something like this have in the classroom? There has been no evidence, whatsoever, to indicate that this type of material has ever done anything to positively influence students, or should I say “children.” Yes, kids in high school are still minors.
This book is just one of many. It is time for citizens to wake up. Go to google and type in pornographic excerpts from “The Bluest Eyes.” You won’t need your coffee this morning or for the entire week for that matter.