Title: Required Instruction

Summary: Beginning in a specified school year, requiring the Department of Education to annually verify that school districts, charter schools, and specified private schools implement certain instruction relating to the history of African Americans; specifying requirements for school districts, charter schools, and specified private schools relating to such instruction; requiring certain statewide, standardized assessments to include, when appropriate, curricula content from the history of African Americans, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to required instruction; creating s. 1003.4551, F.S.; beginning in a specified school year, requiring the Department of Education to annually verify that school districts, charter schools, and specified private schools implement certain instruction relating to the history of African Americans; defining the term  private school ; specifying requirements for school districts, charter schools, and specified private schools relating to such instruction; requiring district school boards, charter school governing boards, and private school directors to adopt certain implementation plans; requiring district school superintendents, charter school principals, and private school directors to annually provide specified evidence to the department by a certain date; authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; requiring certain statewide, standardized assessments to include, when appropriate, curricula content from the history of African Americans; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 1003.4551   School district, charter school, and private school implementation of required instruction on the history of African Americans.  (1)   Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the department shall annually verify that each school district, charter school, and private school implements the instruction required under s. 1003.42(2)(h), relating to the history of African Americans, efficiently and faithfully throughout the school district s, charter school s, or private school s entire curriculum, as appropriate. For purposes of this section, the term  private school  means a private school that accepts scholarship students who participate in a state scholarship program under chapter 1002. (2)   Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, each school district, charter school, and private school must: (a)   Develop, and each school board, charter school governing boa rd, and private school director or similar administrator must adopt, a plan for the implementation of required instruction on the history of African Americans and publicize the plan in the school district s, charter school s, or private school s curriculum guides and on its website. (b)   Develop and implement an ongoing professional development plan for training instructional staff in strategies for teaching the history of African Americans. The school district, charter school, or private school must allocate adequate resources to structured professional development programs and for enhancing the instruction of the history of African Americans in an infused format. (c)   Integrate curricula for teaching the history of African Americans which meet the requirements of s. 1003.42(2)(h) as part of the school district s, charter school s, or private school s curriculum. Such curricula must be distributed to curriculum specialists, teachers, media specialists, and other instructional staff. The school district, charter school, or private school must ensure that adequate instructional resources, including, but not limited to, books, compact discs, digital media, and lesson plans, are available to support such instruction. (d)   Include content on the history of African Americans in lesson plans for the entire school year, as appropriate. (e)   Approve methods for teaching and assessing curricula on the history of African Americans. (f)   Include content on the history of African Americans in any preparations for statewide assessments, when appropriate. (g)   Include content on the history of African Americans in all appropriate subject areas. (h)   Partner with a state university for the development and implementation of professional development, curricula, and instructional support, including jointly seeking external funding and preparing teachers and other instructional staff to teach the history of African Americans.(i)   Develop strategies to involve parents in the implementation of the curricula for the history of African Americans, including through awareness information sessions. (j)   Partner with community members in the development and ongoing implementation of curricula on the history of African Americans. (3)   By August 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, each district school superintendent, charter school principal, and private school director or simil ar administrator shall provide to the department, in a format prescribed by the department, evidence of school district, charter school, and private school compliance with subsection (2). (4)   The State Board of Education may adopt rules to administer this section. Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.  (3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM. The Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. The commissioner also must develop or select and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be used in all juvenile justice education programs in the state. These tools must accurately measure the core curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. Participation in the assessment program is mandatory for all school districts and all students attending public schools, including adult students seeking a standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as otherwise provided by law. If a student does not participate in the assessment program, the school district must notify the student s parent and provide the parent with information regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. The statewide, standardized assessment program shall be designed and implemented as follows: (a)  Statewide, standardized comprehensive assessments.  The statewide, standardized Reading assessment shall be administered annually in grades through 10. The statewide, standardized Writing assessment shall be administered annually at least once at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. When the Reading and Writing assessments are replaced by English Language Arts (ELA) assessments, ELA assessments shall be administered to students in grades through 10. Retake opportunities for the grade Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade ELA assessment must be provided. Students taking the ELA assessments shall not take the statewide, standardized assessments in Reading or Writing. Reading passages and writing prompts for ELA assessments shall incorporate grade-level core curricula content from social studies and, when appropriate, curricula content from the history of African Americans.The statewide, standardized Mathematics assessments shall be administered annually in grades through 8. Students taking a revised Mathematics assessment shall not take the discontinued assessment. The statewide, standardized Science assessment shall be administered annually at least once at the elementary and middle grades levels. In order to earn a standard high school diploma, a student who has not earned a passing score on the grade Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade ELA assessment must earn a passing score on the assessment retake or earn a concordant score as authorized under subsection (9). Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.