Florida Legislators Want Rewrite of Content Standards

Lawmakers in Florida are setting their sights on revamping the state’s academic standards and expanding its assessment system to include social studies, a subject area that many educators believe has been marginalized under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Measures working their way through both chambers in Tallahassee would require the state board of education to “review and replace the Sunshine State Standards with World Class Education Standards” that would be crafted by a panel of teachers, and to align state tests to the new guidelines. A House bill would also add social studies to the state testing program.

Meanwhile, a Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, a Republican, also calls for additions to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT, to gauge students’ knowledge of history and civics three times during their K-12 careers. Mr. Gaetz has also...