A few weeks ago, the state of Florida, while stopping short of withdrawing from participation in Common Core, revoked its participation in PARCC, the joint state-run assessment service employed by many states to assess how students are meeting the demands of the new Common Core curriculum.The Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has responded with a letter outlining the suggested requirements for any assessment designed or adopted to evaluate student progress against College- and Career-Ready Standards.
Why would Florida decide to withdraw from PARCC? Florida Governor Rick Scott cited the need to prevent the federal government from overreaching into Florida’s education system.
Following the Governor’s Education Summit in Tampa a few weeks ago, Governor Rick Scott sent a letter to State Board of Education Chairman Gary Chartrand recently, outlining six steps for the board to:
1) Maintain high education standards; and,
2) Remove the state from federal intrusion in education policy.
To protect Florida from the federal government’s overreach in education policy, Governor Scott also sent a letter recently to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, announcing the state’s decision to withdraw from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Lastly, the Governor also released an Executive Order announcing policy improvements that were discussed in the Governor’s Education Summit.
Governor Scott said, “We listened to many people who are passionate about making Florida’s education system the best in the world during our Education Summit in Tampa a few weeks ago. The summit’s discussions were so robust and diverse that they have led to three actions today. First, I sent a letter to Chairman Chartrand outlining a six-step course forward for Florida to ensure we continue to hold our students to high education standards. Excellence in education begins with high expectations for our students. Second, I told the federal government we are rejecting their overreach into our state education system by withdrawing from PARCC. Last, I issued an executive order to address state assessments, ensure student data security and support a transparent and understandable school accountability system.”
CCSSO (the state superintendents’ association) recently released a letter to states regarding the adoption of assessments aligned to College- and Career-Ready Standards. In it, CCSSO lays out requirements for high-quality assessments in English language arts/literacy and mathematics that will match the rigor and higher level thinking required from students. These requirements include the following for ELA/literacy:
- Assessing student reading and writing achievement in both ELA and literacy.
- Focusing on complexity of texts.
- Requiring students to read closely and use evidence from texts.
- Requiring a range of cognitive demand.
- Emphasizing writing that demonstrates proficiency in the use of language, including vocabulary and conventions.
- Assessing research and inquiry.
- Assessing speaking and listening.
The requirements include the following for mathematics:
- Focusing strongly on the content most needed for success in later mathematics.
- Assessing the balance of concepts, procedures, and applications.
- Connecting practices to content.
- Requiring a range of cognitive demand.
Will Florida attempt to create its own assessments? Will they be able to procure an alternative that is low enough in price and high enough in rigor?
For more information on the Florida withdrawal, please visit: http://www.flgov.com/2013/09/23/governor-rick-scott-announces-path-forward-for-high-education-standards-decision-to-withdraw-from-parcc/
To view the full set of recommendations from CCSSO, see: http://www.ccsso.org/documents/2013/CCSSO%20Assessment%20Quality%20Principles%2010-1-13%20FINAL.pdf
