{"id":4323,"date":"2014-07-01T16:05:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T16:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=4323&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-06-29T16:32:56","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T16:32:56","slug":"failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

[lead]In order to meet one of Florida\u2019s new statewide learning goals, UCF student-teacher Danielle Murphy, \u201914<\/strong>, stood in front of her kindergarten class and invited them to plunge their hands into a bag of blubber.[\/lead]<\/p>\n

Well, not exactly. What Murphy showed her students was a plastic bag filled with vegetable shortening \u2014 not unlike the fatty layer that keeps creatures warm in cold climates. She asked what they thought would happen if they covered their hands in the white goo before thrusting them into a bucket of icy water. After discussing it, the students shared their hypotheses with the class. Learning to express ideas orally \u2014 clearly and audibly \u2014 is one of the Florida standards.<\/p>\n

When it was time to test their ideas, \u201cThey put their hands in there and figured out they couldn\u2019t feel the cold at all,\u201d she says. \u201cThey loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Murphy enjoys the challenge of teaching to the new benchmarks in language arts and math, other educators, parents and administrators take issue with the standards, which are adapted from a set of nationwide learning goals known as the Common Core.<\/p>\n

The goal of the Common Core is to raise student achievement and provide consistent education from one state to the next. It has been adopted by 45 states, including Florida, and the District of Columbia. Those that adopted the standards earned extra points in their application for federal funds through President Obama\u2019s Race to the Top initiative.<\/p>\n

Supporters view the new benchmarks as another step in the right direction for Florida, which launched a series of education reforms in 1996 that continue today. They say the newest standards bring more rigor to the classroom and emphasize critical thinking over memorization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the key to a good education for our students, and for them to be able to move forward to whatever college and career choices they may make, is to be sure we have rigorous, high academic standards,\u201d says Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart, \u201985<\/strong>. She feels the Florida standards have met those criteria.<\/p>\n

Opponents object to the way the standards were created as well as to their content. \u201c[Both] conservatives and liberals are starting to question the legitimacy of what is going on in the public schools,\u201d says Ceresta Smith, a teacher in Miami Dade County and co-founder of United Opt Out National, a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate high-stakes testing in public education. \u201cIt\u2019s all standardized test prep,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s no deep learning going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Zorc, co-founder of Florida Parents Against Common Core, calls the state standards mediocre and views their basis in the Common Core as a threat to local control. Her group has been petitioning the Legislature to stop implementation of the benchmarks. \u201cFlorida parents are insulted and outraged at the governor and the Florida Department of Education\u2019s attempt to deceive the public into thinking that we now have \u2018Florida standards\u2019 when clearly we have national standards,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The debate grows as Florida prepares to introduce an assessment test aligned with the new standards next school year. It will replace the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), which has been given since 1998 to students in grades 3\u201311. With scores linked to student advancement, school ratings and teacher pay, the stakes continue to be high.<\/p>\n

[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

Top Down, Not Top Notch<\/span><\/h2>\n

Critics of the standards argue that the team that wrote the Common Core, developed through the National Governors Association for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers, included no high school English or mathematics teachers and no university English professors. It did, however, include a number of staff members and consultants from Achieve, an education-reform nonprofit created by business and government leaders in 1996.<\/p>\n

Smith, a veteran of 25 years in the classroom, says the new standards put too much pressure on younger students, pushing aside play and socialization. \u201cYou\u2019re sitting children at desks far too long.\u201d At the same time, she says, the new standards don\u2019t encourage older students to think deeply enough.<\/p>\n

Zorc shares this latter concern. In her view, the Common Core stresses the analysis of excerpted informational texts at the expense of reading classical literature. She also objects to what she calls an emphasis on soft skills, such as global awareness and media literacy, over content learning and the promotion of fuzzy math, of which she says, \u201cThe kids are told it\u2019s OK if you get the wrong answer, as long as you can explain how you got your answer.\u201d Zorc feels that as a result, Florida students will fall behind their international peers.<\/p>\n

[blockquote source=”Donna Hackett-Mello, \u201904″ cite=”” color=”#5e90af”]One test, although valuable in terms of data collection, simply cannot tell you all there is to know about a child\u2019s academic progress[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

Critics like Smith and Zorc believe that schools place too much emphasis on preparing for standardized tests rather than learning for its own sake. Some parents agree.<\/p>\n

Jan Chalhoub, \u201995<\/strong>, a Winter Park mother of five students in the Orange County Public Schools system, says, \u201cIt\u2019s been such a stressful year for my kindergartner \u2014 and kindergarten is supposed to be fun.\u201d She blames the push for students to master sight words and write sentences on the influence of the Common Core and high-stakes testing pressures.<\/p>\n

At the same time, her fourth-grader is still struggling with her multiplication tables, which \u201cwhen we were in school, they drilled into our heads,\u201d she says. \u201cThey just focus so much on teaching to take the test that I feel like they\u2019ve missed a lot of fundamentals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the FCAT created anxiety for her fourth-grader, Chalhoub understood the goals behind the assessments. \u201cI certainly want us to be able to compete in our education system, and [for] our kids to be as smart as they can be,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I want to make sure the focus is still on learning \u2014 not on test taking, test results [and] merit-based pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linking teacher pay and school ratings to student test scores has been a sore point for many teachers and administrators. One problem is that educators are evaluated on the test scores of students they may have never taught, says Karri Williams-Fjeldhe, associate professor and reading education coordinator at UCF\u2019s College of Education and Human Performance (COEHP). \u201cIt\u2019s not a direct effect,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an aggregated score, not broken [down by] specific teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some think that data evaluation affects students as well. \u201cOne test, although valuable in terms of data collection, simply cannot tell you all there is to know about a child\u2019s academic progress,\u201d says Donna<\/strong> Hackett Mello, \u201904<\/strong>, a second-grade teacher at Arbor Ridge Elementary in Orlando. \u201cThese tests should also not be the only factor in determining school grades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee Baldwin, a COEHP associate professor who formerly served as the senior director of accountability, research and assessment for Orange County Public Schools, favors accountability, but he acknowledges that testing can produce some unintended consequences, such as causing teachers to rely more on worksheets and other learning tools to make sure students are ready to perform well on standardized tests. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone was sitting in Tallahassee saying, \u2018Let\u2019s eliminate recess,\u2019 but because schools are so fearful they will get a bad grade, they will focus on what they need to do to get a good grade,\u201d he says. But even with these reservations, Baldwin is quick to add that he does not want to eliminate testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like education was wonderful back in the \u201980s before they started accountability,\u201d he says. \u201cYou could just look at the national data to know we were not performing as well as we could.\u201d<\/p>\n

[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

Raising Expectations<\/span><\/h2>\n

[sidebar background=”#e2d6b3″ position=”right”]<\/p>\n

What Are the Florida Standards?<\/span><\/h3>\n

These statewide goals for public education set specific academic benchmarks in math and English language arts. On Feb. 18, the Florida State Board of Education voted to approve the Mathematics Florida Standards and Language Arts Florida Standards. To inform the updated standards \u2014 and in response to public complaints \u2014 the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) invited public input during three open meetings held throughout the state, plus a website form to solicit comments and an email address for individuals to send messages directly to the FDOE. From the resulting comments, the department recommended changes to the original Common Core State Standards (which were adopted in July 2010). To read the complete Florida standards, visit fldoe.org<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

[\/sidebar]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had standards in Florida for a long time, and it did not raise concerns in the past,\u201d says Commissioner Stewart. She attributes much of the controversy to a misperception that Florida submitted to a federal takeover by adopting the Common Core. \u201cWe\u2019re not mandated to do anything by the federal government,\u201d she says. \u201cThese are our own standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Zorc\u2019s view, the original documents were not changed enough. And because of copyright restrictions by the Council of Chief State School Officers, a nonprofit organization of public education officials that co-owns the Common Core standards, \u201cYou do not see deletions, just additions. This is a concern to many of us,\u201d she says. \u201cFlorida has given over our state and local control to a copyright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juli Dixon, a professor of mathematics education at the COEHP, helped revise Florida\u2019s math standards in 2007. More recently, she\u2019s written three books to help educators adapt to the Common Core. To her, the updated standards are not a drastic change, but another step forward. \u201cWhat the Common Core did was bring more rigor and specificity and focus to our [previous] state standards,\u201d she says. She cites how the standards have achieved a better balance in promoting an understanding of both concepts and procedures, the why<\/i> and what<\/i> in mathematics.<\/p>\n

Dixon does think educators could do a better job explaining to parents why math looks different compared to when they went to school. \u201cIt\u2019s not to create problems for students and parents,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s to help children understand the math we use.\u201d So, while it\u2019s important for students to know that 6 times 7 equals 42, it\u2019s also important to know how they get there. \u201cThe conceptual understanding should come first,\u201d she says, so students can build on what they know to tackle more difficult mathematics later on.<\/p>\n

Hackett-Mello agrees. \u201cI am on the front lines, [teaching the standards] every day, and I can tell you that it is something my students needed. We are helping students not only learn to use the time-tested methods of problem-solving, but also to find new ways of doing so,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe Common Core math is about reaching all<\/i> of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hackett-Mello provides a subtraction lesson that supports Common Core goals:<\/p>\n

To subtract 326 from 489, you can write it out in the standard way or the following way:<\/p>\n

Think of 326 as 300, 20, 6.<\/i><\/p>\n

Now, do 489 minus 300.<\/i><\/p>\n

Then do 189 minus 20.<\/i><\/p>\n

Finally, do 169 minus 6.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a strategy that some students and many adults actually use more often than they are aware,\u201d she says. \u201cIt is how many people subtract large numbers in their heads. Students are becoming better problem solvers now. That\u2019s what Common Core [and the Florida standards are] all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seminole County Public Schools Superintendent Walt Griffin, \u201981<\/strong>, believes the new standards are more relevant because of their emphasis on critical thinking. With access to the Internet, he says, \u201cStudents today have to learn how to discern what is accurate and appropriate information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Florida standards also promote a more thorough understanding of language arts, says Commissioner Stewart. \u201cIn the past, we\u2019d have students read a passage and [we\u2019d] ask them very functional questions to get at comprehension, such as, \u2018What color was Sarah\u2019s dress?\u2019 Students would learn to look for green<\/i>, dress<\/i> and Sarah<\/i>, and they were done. \u2026 And now we ask questions like, \u2018Why on this particular day would Sarah wear this dress?\u2019 \u201d To answer, students have to read the entire passage and cite evidence for their answers. \u201cIt is a much richer way of instructing students,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Stewart disagrees with critics who say the standards come at the expense of play. \u201cI think those really good teachers out there know how to incorporate play in their instruction,\u201d she says, \u201cbut [students] are in school, even in the primary grades \u2026 and I think it is our responsibility to make sure they are moving forward and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

[photo id=”4599″ title=”Testing-Inset” alt=”Paul Thurlby illustration of technicians in mission control room, monitoring student progress.” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/p>\n

[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

[sidebar background=”#a2c9d7″ position=”right”]<\/p>\n

Decades of Education Reform<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

1983<\/strong> – A commission established by President Reagan publishes \u201cA Nation at Risk,\u201d marking the starting point of standards-based education reform implementation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1994<\/strong> – A series of Clinton administration-backed laws requires states to set standards and establish corresponding tests.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1996<\/strong> – Governors and business leaders at the National Education Summit pledge to work together to raise standards in public schools, founding Achieve, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that will become instrumental in the creation of the Common Core.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2008<\/strong> – The National Governors Association, state education commissioners and other groups begin organizing development of common standards in math and English language arts for grades K\u201312.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2009<\/strong> – Governors and state education commissioners from 48 states plus the District of Columbia commit to developing the Common Core standards. Only Alaska and Texas do not join the effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2010 Feb. 10<\/strong> – Kentucky adopts the Common Core standards before they\u2019ve been publicly released, making it the first state to adopt them.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2010 March 10<\/strong> – First draft of the standards is released to the public for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2010 June 2<\/strong> – Final Common Core standards are released for states to adopt or reject.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2010 Aug. 2<\/strong> – Deadline for adoption of the Common Core standards through the Race to the Top program, allowing states to earn extra points toward competitive federal grants.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2012 June 6<\/strong> – Wyoming becomes the 46th state to adopt the full Common Core standards; Indiana later opts out.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2011\u201312 School Yr<\/strong>. – Development begins for new standardized tests tied to the Common Core standards. The effort is led by two consortiums of states, known as PARCC and Smarter Balanced, which share $360 million in federal grants to develop the new tests.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2012\u201313 School Yr<\/strong>. – PARCC and Smarter Balanced begin pilot testing of new standardized tests.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014\u201315 School Yr<\/strong>. – All participating states will begin using new standardized tests for math and English language arts.<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/sidebar]<\/p>\n

Accountability Equals Improvement<\/span><\/h2>\n

Next spring Florida students will break in a new kind of test based on the Florida standards. According to Commissioner Stewart, the assessment needs to provide \u201ca richer way of being able to glean information from students\u201d than the FCAT did.<\/p>\n

While the details are still being worked out on a six-year $220 million contract with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to develop the test, Florida students will be expected to do more than pick out the right multiple-choice answer. As the Florida Department of Education website states, \u201cStudents will be asked to create graphs, interact with test content and write and respond in different ways than on traditional tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some educators that\u2019s a welcome change. Bubbling in the answers on a test like the FCAT \u201cis kind of divorced from what students do in class every day or once they\u2019re in the workforce,\u201d says UCF Associate Professor Baldwin.<\/p>\n

In the selection of AIR, a nonprofit social science and behavior research organization, Stewart says, \u201cWe had several key points we were hitting: ensuring an assessment close in cost to the FCAT, close in length of testing time, and that it would work within a grading system in Florida.\u201d Under Stewart\u2019s plan, the first year\u2019s test scores will be used to create a new baseline to measure student and school progress, and schools will not be penalized for poor grades until the 2015\u201316 school year.<\/p>\n

Stewart became a believer in high-stakes testing when she was the principal of an elementary school that earned an F based on its FCAT scores. \u201cBefore we started issuing school grades, Florida was really at the bottom of education nationwide, or close to the bottom,\u201d Stewart says. \u201cAnd this past year we were ranked No. 6 in the nation.\u201d (This is according to the Education Week <\/i>\u201cQuality Counts\u201d report, which considers six areas of educational policy and performance.) \u201cI will tell you that if there weren\u2019t school grades, [my school] would have been critically low performing forever. But with this impetus, we pulled in teachers from each grade level and developed a plan \u2026 We moved from an F to a C in one year,\u201d she says. And more importantly, students began performing on grade level.<\/p>\n

Stewart feels it\u2019s up to the teachers and administrators to keep students from feeling stressed about the exams. \u201cIf we send the message to students that this consequence is going to happen to you if you don\u2019t do well, we\u2019re sending the wrong message,\u201d she says. \u201cIt should be like a theater production. We\u2019ve practiced and practiced for it, and now is our opportunity to shine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Illustrations by Paul Thurlby<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4600,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[1340],"class_list":["post-4323","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-college-of-community-innovation-and-education","issues-14","issues-summer-2014"],"yoast_head":"\nEducation Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-29T16:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"220\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"230\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/\",\"name\":\"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-01T16:05:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-29T16:32:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg\",\"width\":220,\"height\":230},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/\",\"name\":\"Pegasus Magazine\",\"description\":\"The Magazine of University of Central Florida\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#local-main-organization-logo\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"University of Central Florida\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?","description":"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?","og_description":"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/","og_site_name":"Pegasus Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF","article_modified_time":"2020-06-29T16:32:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":220,"height":230,"url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@UCF","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/","name":"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-01T16:05:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-29T16:32:56+00:00","description":"University of Central Florida Education experts debate Florida testing reforms from FCAT to Florida Standards based on Common Core Pegasus Magazine","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2014\/06\/Testing-Thumbnail.jpg","width":220,"height":230},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Education Reform: Do the Florida Standards Benefit Our Children?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/","name":"Pegasus Magazine","description":"The Magazine of University of Central Florida","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/failure-is-not-an-option-florida-standards-2\/#local-main-organization-logo","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"University of Central Florida"}]}},"acf":[],"story_subtitle":"","story_description":"","story_thumbnail":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/4323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/4323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20240,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/4323\/revisions\/20240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}