TALLAHASSEE --- Florida鈥檚 State Board of Education on Wednesday will consider adopting a wide-ranging overhaul of curriculum standards across multiple subjects in public schools, including guidelines for teaching civics and government courses and Holocaust education.
In documents outlining the proposed standards, the state Department of Education said that the requirements would reflect priorities such as teaching 鈥渁 sense of civic pride鈥� and how to 鈥減articipate regularly in all levels of government.鈥�
Laid out in detail by grade level, the standards also would require Florida students to 鈥渟tudy primary source documents to understand the philosophical underpinnings of the American Republic and the root cause of American exceptionalism.鈥�
Students would also 鈥渃ompare the success of the United States and the success or failure of other nations鈥� governing philosophies to evaluate their past, present and likely future effects,鈥� under the proposed standards.
The revision process for state-level standards in civics and Holocaust education has been in the works for some time. A bill passed by the Florida Legislature in 2019 prompted a review of civics curriculums and a measure passed in 2020 teed up a review of Holocaust education standards.
Education officials held a three-stop 鈥渓istening tour鈥� to discuss and hear public comment on the proposed standards in May and June, with the most recent session held in Baker County last month.
鈥淭he standards outline 鈥� what do we expect students to know at each of these grade levels,鈥滼acob Oliva, chancellor of the department鈥檚 Division of Public Schools, told a small crowd during the Macclenny stop.
The Holocaust guidelines were developed in conjunction with Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran鈥檚 Task Force on Holocaust Education and other state and national education organizations.
鈥淐urrently in our classrooms, there is Holocaust education. Those topics are covered and embedded in certain social studies standards, but they weren鈥檛 stand-alone specific to Holocaust education,鈥� Oliva said at the Macclenny event on June 9.
Education officials also will consider adding character education and substance use and abuse instruction to existing health education curriculums.
In addition, alternate standards in math and English-language arts will be considered for students with 鈥渢he most significant cognitive disabilities,鈥� and minor 鈥渢echnical鈥� revisions are being proposed for English-language arts instruction.
鈥淲hen you write standards, it鈥檚 not a one time (thing), you get it perfect the first time and then that鈥檚 what you have forever. The needs of our students change, the expectations of what we want students to learn grows and evolves. So standards should be revisited and they should be revised,鈥� Oliva said last month.
If approved by the Board of Education on Wednesday, the new standards likely won鈥檛 show up in classrooms until the 2023-24 academic year, according to Oliva.
鈥淥nce we get new standards, then we revise courses to reflect those standards, then we鈥檙e going to look at getting textbooks to be aligned with those standards and professional development for our teachers,鈥� he explained.
The proposed revision of social studies standards comes after a series of moves by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature aimed at emphasizing patriotism in civics instruction.
DeSantis on Tuesday visited an Orlando charter school to herald $106 million toward civics education initiatives, including boosting training for teachers in civics instruction with the promise of a $3,000 bonus from the state for educators who complete it. DeSantis said in March that the money for the civics initiative would come from federal coronavirus relief funds.
鈥淚 think every single piece of survey data, or any time people have ever looked at what is the baseline civic knowledge for people throughout American society but particularly for younger people, I think 100 percent of the time, the results come back and they鈥檙e pretty doggone dismal,鈥� DeSantis told reporters in Orlando on Tuesday.
Lawmakers passed two civics education bills during the legislative session that ended April 30, including one measure requiring state college and university students to take a civic literacy course and exam as a graduation requirement.
The other bill will revise social-studies requirements for high school graduation to include in U.S. government courses 鈥渁 comparative discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism, that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy essential to the founding principles of the United States.鈥�
DeSantis signed both measures into law last month.
At its most recent meeting in June, the State Board of Education approved a rule that imposes controversial guidelines on the way U.S. history is taught in public schools.
The rule, in part, says teachers "may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.鈥�
DeSantis, who made an appearance at the June meeting by video, told the board 鈥渨e need to be educating people, not trying to indoctrinate them with ideology.鈥�
