Student Performance Standards Comments Received at Rule Workshop

Rule 6A-1.09401, F.A.C.
, Student Performance Standards

Comments Received at Rule Workshop on April 9, 2021
1. What is the rationale for keeping article I, II, and III together in one benchmark in middle
school and dividing them into three benchmarks in high school?
2. Who created the revisions to Civics standards? If it was an expert panel, what are the names
of the individuals or organizations on the panel?
3. If possible, I would like to see the names of the individuals or organizations that took part in
the creation of the new Civics standards as well as the new Holocaust standards.
4. Related to Civics, where is the diversity?
5. If passed by the Board, will the Civics/Government and Holocaust standards be updated into
the course descriptions for 2021-2022?
6. If approved as written, do we expect the new Civics and Government standards to be
implanted in Aug of 2021 or Aug of 2022?
7. Why is there religion mixed in with the 7th civic standards?
8. Please remove references to religious values in Civics. There is no reason to include this
except as trying to promote specific religions. There is no reason to include the 10
commandments and the Hebrew Bible and Judeo Christian values and the Protestant work
ethic (are we insinuating that other groups don't have work ethics?)
9. When will test item specs be available?
10. What standards will be assessed on the civics EOC?
11. There have been additional benchmarks added to the 7th grade Civics course but very few
removed. My concern is that teachers are already struggling to teach the current benchmarks
to the level of mastery, adding in more without taking additional pieces off their plate is
going to cause a lot of anxiety on teachers and consequently, for students taking the EOC.
12. What is the proposed solution to adding 8 benchmarks (and removing 1) to MS Civics to an
already packed course?
13. What will be the process when families challenge the religious injections into the Civics
curriculum?
14. Can we please add Labor Day, MLK Day, and other holidays to the patriotic holidays in the
elementary Civics benchmarks?
15. Can we remove Betsy Ross from the 1st grade Civics standards since she is more myth than
fact?
16. Can someone assure our students that the newly added Civics benchmarks that were added
that are more partisan (defining patriotism as pledge saying, making judgements about other
nations) will NOT be included in the revised EOC?
17. The 7th grade civics benchmarks have removed one benchmark (political parties) and added
eight highly partisan benchmarks -- for which there is now no political party background
knowledge in the students. Please return the political party benchmark (without communism
which isn't a real political party) and remove the nationalism from the rest.
18. Please remove Betsy Ross from the benchmark clarifications. Her contributions are myths.
19. Please edit the benchmark clarifications to reflect that the Pledge of allegiance and National
Anthem are not the only forms of patriotism and that they are problematic for many students
(non-religious students, etc.). Please include ways to show patriotism that include caring for
ALL the PEOPLE within a country, not just its symbols.
20. Please remove the references to “irresponsible citizenship.”
Rule 6A-1.09401, F.A.C., Student Performance Standards
21. Please stop telling the students what to believe when comparing the US to other nations. It is
acceptable to compare nations but the students should come to their own conclusions. It is
our job as educators to teach children how to think, not what to think.
22. There is no reason for the wording in the Electoral College benchmark.
23. Please make it value-neutral. SS.7.C.4.5 is unnecessary and highly biased.
24. SS.912.C.2.2 people are not denied their right to participate for felonies. They are denied the
right to vote not the right to participate. They are not the same. Remove the limits on the type
of protesting.
25. If the benchmark clarifications were reviewed prior to the inclusion of the new benchmarks,
which timeline shows to be the case, then did these clarifications go under an expert review?
For that matter, if this is only open to public comment but we do not know who created these
new benchmarks, will there be a space for an expert panel to review the new benchmarks and
clarifications?
26. Other benchmarks that include specific political views and will set up our classrooms to
become places of contention, or in the absence of the counterbalance have the effect of
promoting one political stance – 7th grade benchmark 3.13 with the use of the word “all,” 4.4
“why the Electoral College is essential” has a much different connotation than “Explain the
presidential election process and the role and purpose of the Electoral College,” and 4.5
“compare the success of the United States to the success or failure of other nations” is so
strangely worded that it seems politically motivated-to teach that the United States has never
had a failure. Just as we don’t want to teach children to hate their country, we also don’t want
to teach them that we have not ever committed offenses.
27. The inclusion of the 10 Commandments, Judeo-Christian values, and Protestant work ethic in
the middle grades benchmarks also seem politically motivated and borderline
unconstitutional. For example, for a student to "identify Judeo-Christian values in founding
documents" (C.1.12) we must teach them Judeo-Christian values. It is asking students to find
the evidence of someone's political/religious assertion. It also takes them into a conversation
which this course was not built for - this is a survey course and that is extraordinarily
specific. In the same benchmark is an additional clarification “students will analyze the
degree of civic participation inherent in these civilizations.” How? Where do we find
resources to support this statement? This is a civics course, not history. The same
clarification is found under the proposed benchmark 1.11 on Greco-Roman civilization.
28. Wording of the "patriotism" benchmarks in elementary grades seem more politically
motivated than educational. The choices of individuals to represent us are also inconsistent -
Betsy Ross as a symbol perpetuates a historical inaccuracy that began in the 19th Century.
Andrew Jackson as a symbol for the state of Florida is divisive. Do we want to do that in our
schools? Statements that end with "distinguish the United States from other countries" is also
confusing and seems politically motivated. Which other countries are we supposed to be
comparing ourselves to? If it is like the 2nd grade Bill of Rights benchmark - almost 200
other countries have a document similar (other statements throughout the Elementary
benchmarks do the same thing). By wording it in this way you are either asking teachers to
just make an incredibly vague and broad statement like "there are countries that don't have a
Rule 6A-1.09401, F.A.C., Student Performance Standards
Bill of Rights" which is unproductive and not educational, or they must do research into
comparative governments and this is not age appropriate. This wording must be stricken.
29. Does FLDOE anticipate the HE standards, once approved, to be instructed in specific course
or will it be left up to each district to determine in which course(s) they are taught?
30. Are these standards revisions proposed to be effective for the 2021-2022 school year? We
need clarification on expectations for implementation of new Holocaust standards, especially
for grades 9-12. This workshop on 4/9/21 resulted in more uncertainty rather than being
informative. We could not see questions in the chat and it's still unclear if answers to
anyone's questions will be provided for the whole group.
31. Will there be implementation timelines for the revised Civics, Government, and Holocaust
Education standards provided to school districts?
32. Will Holocaust Standards currently in other courses, like high school World History and U.S.
History, be replaced with some number of new HE standards?
33. Where do the Character Ed standards live? In SS course descriptions?
34. Character standards sound like Social Emotional learning. We had been assured by
Chancellor Oliva that Florida ELA and Math Standards would not reflect SEL. These are
standalone but why does the DOE believe school districts should be teaching character.
These can easily become very partisan.
35. Do you anticipate significant or only minor changes to the Character Ed. Standards before
approval from the Board in June?

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Rule 6A-1.09401, F.A.C.

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