Based on our national expert recommendations (available in stand-alone form as an executive summary  and in a document with  background information and references) and our preliminary review of the second draft , here are several talking  points/recommendations you can use in attending the meetings. Detailed discussion of some more specific issues will be forthcoming for submission to websites if you are unable to attend.

General comments may be sent to StandardsReview@fldoe.org.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA)

1) Continue the excellent work so far by removing the rest of the social emotional learning and developmentally inappropriate standards.

The writers are to be commended for having done such a tremendous job of fixing the vast majority of these problematic standards. Details will follow on the last few.

2) Make sure that the standards do not remain skills-based but are tied to great literature, such as is found in the ELA appendices of the second draft, which contains much of the excellent " Commissioners Back to School Reading List." 

 

Dr. Mark Bauerlein and Dr. Sandra Stotsky, experts recommended by FSCCC have done great work on the draft in this regard.

 

3) Continue promoting and expand the intensive systematic phonics in the standards in the early grades. 

 

There are over 100,000 studies showing that phonics works to teach reading effectively. Especially since third graders may not advance to 4th grade without passing the reading test, phonics is critical.

 

4) Make sure that more of the U.S. Constitution than merely the preamble is required.

 

That was the Common Core requirement and to help fulfill Governor DeSantis' executive order that also promotes civic literacy, as least the preamble and the Bill of Rights, if not the whole document should be studied as the implementation of the Declaration of Independence, which is included in whole.

 

MATH:

1) Eliminate the " The Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards"

One of the key problems with Common Core is the emphasis on process instead of fluency performing actual math problems as done in high performing countries and states before Common Core Math (CCM). Unfortunately, the second draft continues this with these reasoning standards that contain subjective, unproven social emotional learning concepts like perseverance and effortful control, multiple representations (Common Core's ridiculous requirement to do one problem multiple ways), and group work.

2) Start the requirement of using the standard algorithm for solving math problems as soon as possible and eliminate language in the draft that says "use a variety of strategies to..."