State Board of Education Renames Education Standards

The State Board of Education had its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, and it appears the board is putting distance between the Sunshine State and Common Core State Standards.

After introducing nearly 100 proposed changes to the Common Core standards, Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart announced last week that the department would be changing the name of the education standards from "Common Core State Standards" to "Florida Standards."

The name change comes after a series of public hearings in which parents, teachers and members of the public voiced their concerns and made suggestions on how to improve the standards. The result was a proposal that included 99 changes, with over 50 of them being in calculus.

Stewart said the proposed changes do nothing to change the rigor of the standards and seemed to believe the new standards would be higher than Common Core.

As it prepares to be fully implemented in Florida's schools, Common Core has gathered significant controversy. The controversy reached a fever pitch when Florida pulled out of the fiscal agent portion of thePartnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessment test. Maryland took on the fiscal agent role in December.

Florida has not yet determined which test it will be using to replace the FCAT, but Stewart said Tuesday that the board will make its decision in March.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18 in Orlando.