New Florida Law in Conflict with Common Core?
Governor Rick Scott (R-FL)Algebra 2 will become an optional course for high school students pursuing a standard diploma under legislation Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed today. Advocates say this and other changes to Florida graduation requirements (only adopted in 2010) aim to give students more flexibility as they prepare for various career paths. But the action seems to raise questions about fidelity to the Common Core State Standards in Florida. Indeed, this may prove a thorny issue in other states, too.In math, the common standards call for all students to meet algebra learning objectives akin to what one would expect in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 courses, several experts tell me, including the ability to reason with and apply that mathematics. (Indeed, one “model pathway”outlined in an
A Prediction That Smarter Balanced and PARCC Will Wither Away?
Checker Finn of the Fordham Institute is skeptical of the future of Smarter Balanced and PARCC:This prediction will puzzle, upset, and maybe infuriate a great many readers—and, of course, it could turn out to be wrong—but enough clues, tips, tidbits, and intuitions have converged in recent weeks that I feel obligated to make it:I expect that PARCC and Smarter Balanced (the two federally subsidized consortia of states that are developing new assessments meant to be aligned with Common Core standards) will fade away, eclipsed and supplanted by long-established yet fleet-footed testing firms that already possess the infrastructure, relationships, and durability that give them huge advantages in the competition for state and district business.
Before we get to excited about that. He thinks ACT Aspire will supplant them (Alabama just adopted their use).
Although the College Board and ACT have traditionally focused on the high-school-to-college transition, both also have experience earlier in the K–12 sequence. ACT Explore is aimed at eighth