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Florida Board Of Education Weighs Changes To Common Core

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The State's Board of Education met Tuesday in Miami to discuss, among other things, proposed changes to the Common Core academic standards. It also recognized Alberto Carvalho as the state superintendent of the year.

Pam Stewart, the board's Education Commissioner, was present at the meeting and recognized Carvalho for his award.

"This feels great, but as I said, being superintendent of the years is a reflection, a testament of the great work our teachers, principals, and our community are doing right now. We are the world prize winning district," Carvalho said.

While that part of the meeting was celebratory, the common core standards have drawn as much scrutiny as praise. The benchmarks for learning in language arts and math were adopted by Florida and more than 40 other states.

The tests were developed by a coalition of state leaders and establish what a student should know to be prepared for college and the workforce.

In response to critics, Florida fielded comments from thousands of teachers and parents statewide. The Department of Education has developed a list of recommendations based off those comments, most of which are minor changes.

"I think the state is now on the right track by giving it a second look and entertaining conversation and comments made by stakeholders across the state and hopefully will have more reasonable set of standards for our state," Carvalho said of Common Core.

At Tuesday's meeting, being held at the Miami Lakes Educational Center, the board will also vote on passing scores for end of course and FCAT tests and update the status on digital learning.

Cavahlo also said that there should be changes made when it comes to teacher evaluation and assessments.

"So much has changed," Carvalho said. "I am advocating suspending letter grades to schools for the next two to three years during a transition. What is the value of an A versus B or a C? Can we in fact with all certainty affirm that innate is the best school in the system or the state?"

Next month, the Florida Board of Education will vote on the suggestions made by parents and teachers to the common core curriculum and decide what, if any, changes are made to the system.

As for Carvalho, he may not be finished with award season either. He is one of the final four candidates for the superintendent of the year at the national level this year.

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