Florida Senate - 2021                                     SB 190
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00111B-21                                           2021190__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to required instruction; creating s.
    3         1003.4551, F.S.; beginning in a specified school year,
    4         requiring the Department of Education to annually
    5         verify that school districts, charter schools, and
    6         specified private schools implement certain
    7         instruction relating to the history of African
    8         Americans; defining the term “private school”;
    9         specifying requirements for school districts, charter
   10         schools, and specified private schools relating to
   11         such instruction; requiring district school boards,
   12         charter school governing boards, and private school
   13         directors to adopt certain implementation plans;
   14         requiring district school superintendents, charter
   15         school principals, and private school directors to
   16         annually provide specified evidence to the department
   17         by a certain date; authorizing the State Board of
   18         Education to adopt rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.;
   19         requiring certain statewide, standardized assessments
   20         to include, when appropriate, curricula content from
   21         the history of African Americans; providing an
   22         effective date.
   23          
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. Section 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created
   27  to read:
   28         1003.4551School district, charter school, and private
   29  school implementation of required instruction on the history of
   30  African Americans.—
   31         (1)Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, the department
   32  shall annually verify that each school district, charter school,
   33  and private school implements the instruction required under s.
   34  1003.42(2)(h), relating to the history of African Americans,
   35  efficiently and faithfully throughout the school district’s,
   36  charter school’s, or private school’s entire curriculum, as
   37  appropriate. For purposes of this section, the term “private
   38  school” means a private school that accepts scholarship students
   39  who participate in a state scholarship program under chapter
   40  1002.
   41         (2)Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, each school
   42  district, charter school, and private school must:
   43         (a)Develop, and each school board, charter school
   44  governing board, and private school director or similar
   45  administrator must adopt, a plan for the implementation of
   46  required instruction on the history of African Americans and
   47  publicize the plan in the school district’s, charter school’s,
   48  or private school’s curriculum guides and on its website.
   49         (b)Develop and implement an ongoing professional
   50  development plan for training instructional staff in strategies
   51  for teaching the history of African Americans. The school
   52  district, charter school, or private school must allocate
   53  adequate resources to structured professional development
   54  programs and for enhancing the instruction of the history of
   55  African Americans in an infused format.
   56         (c)Integrate curricula for teaching the history of African
   57  Americans which meet the requirements of s. 1003.42(2)(h) as
   58  part of the school district’s, charter school’s, or private
   59  school’s curriculum. Such curricula must be distributed to
   60  curriculum specialists, teachers, media specialists, and other
   61  instructional staff. The school district, charter school, or
   62  private school must ensure that adequate instructional
   63  resources, including, but not limited to, books, compact discs,
   64  digital media, and lesson plans, are available to support such
   65  instruction.
   66         (d)Include content on the history of African Americans in
   67  lesson plans for the entire school year, as appropriate.
   68         (e)Approve methods for teaching and assessing curricula on
   69  the history of African Americans.
   70         (f)Include content on the history of African Americans in
   71  any preparations for statewide assessments, when appropriate.
   72         (g)Include content on the history of African Americans in
   73  all appropriate subject areas.
   74         (h)Partner with a state university for the development and
   75  implementation of professional development, curricula, and
   76  instructional support, including jointly seeking external
   77  funding and preparing teachers and other instructional staff to
   78  teach the history of African Americans.
   79         (i)Develop strategies to involve parents in the
   80  implementation of the curricula for the history of African
   81  Americans, including through awareness information sessions.
   82         (j)Partner with community members in the development and
   83  ongoing implementation of curricula on the history of African
   84  Americans.
   85         (3)By August 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, each
   86  district school superintendent, charter school principal, and
   87  private school director or similar administrator shall provide
   88  to the department, in a format prescribed by the department,
   89  evidence of school district, charter school, and private school
   90  compliance with subsection (2).
   91         (4)The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
   92  administer this section.
   93         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
   94  1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   95         1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.—
   96         (3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The
   97  Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a
   98  statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core
   99  curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine
  100  State Standards. The commissioner also must develop or select
  101  and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be
  102  used in all juvenile justice education programs in the state.
  103  These tools must accurately measure the core curricular content
  104  established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
  105  Participation in the assessment program is mandatory for all
  106  school districts and all students attending public schools,
  107  including adult students seeking a standard high school diploma
  108  under s. 1003.4282 and students in Department of Juvenile
  109  Justice education programs, except as otherwise provided by law.
  110  If a student does not participate in the assessment program, the
  111  school district must notify the student’s parent and provide the
  112  parent with information regarding the implications of such
  113  nonparticipation. The statewide, standardized assessment program
  114  shall be designed and implemented as follows:
  115         (a) Statewide, standardized comprehensive assessments.—The
  116  statewide, standardized Reading assessment shall be administered
  117  annually in grades 3 through 10. The statewide, standardized
  118  Writing assessment shall be administered annually at least once
  119  at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. When the
  120  Reading and Writing assessments are replaced by English Language
  121  Arts (ELA) assessments, ELA assessments shall be administered to
  122  students in grades 3 through 10. Retake opportunities for the
  123  grade 10 Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade
  124  10 ELA assessment must be provided. Students taking the ELA
  125  assessments shall not take the statewide, standardized
  126  assessments in Reading or Writing. Reading passages and writing
  127  prompts for ELA assessments shall incorporate grade-level core
  128  curricula content from social studies and, when appropriate,
  129  curricula content from the history of African Americans. The
  130  statewide, standardized Mathematics assessments shall be
  131  administered annually in grades 3 through 8. Students taking a
  132  revised Mathematics assessment shall not take the discontinued
  133  assessment. The statewide, standardized Science assessment shall
  134  be administered annually at least once at the elementary and
  135  middle grades levels. In order to earn a standard high school
  136  diploma, a student who has not earned a passing score on the
  137  grade 10 Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade
  138  10 ELA assessment must earn a passing score on the assessment
  139  retake or earn a concordant score as authorized under subsection
  140  (9).
  141         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.