Introduction
Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T. standards and curriculum is a state and strictly regulated document developed on February 12, 2020, by the State Department of Education. The official paper is a relatively new concept of changing the formation and development of students’ thinking in Florida in mathematics and English. The state program primarily concerns the professional development of teachers and tutors from the beginning of 2020, and by 2023 the Department of Education is striving to fully adopt the new standards. Additionally, this set of rules and standards applies both to learners of particular educational institutions and those interested in quality learning and acquiring new knowledge. Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T. curriculum is one of the best and most competently developed standards for learning English and mathematical sciences, contributing to the comprehensive development and improvement of people involved in the education system.
Interviews with Two Adult Educators About Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T Standards
An Interview with the First Educator
- Hello! I am very glad to see you and thank you for agreeing to answer a couple of questions. Tell me, please, what do you think about the new educational standards in Florida?
- Hello! I am glad to see you and speak with you too! Most importantly, the ELA B.E.S.T curriculum is an essential step into the future for the development of society not only at the level of a single state but also the whole country. The program is a set of rules, methods, and tactics to improve the quality of the educational process’s quality. Moreover, ELA B.E.S.T. promotes both the personal and professional development of a learner.
- How do you feel about them? Are they better or worse than previous educational programs?
- In this situation, it is not easy to give an accurate and unambiguous answer to this question. I think that the new standards are in some ways better than Common Core. Despite this statement, ELA B.E.S.T is inferior to previous norms and rules in several moments. In fact, Florida’s B.E.S.T. standards are strict but useful and productive for students at the same time. Indeed, this is a new educational model for the country, which requires a test of time.
- Do you think these transformations were really needed in the educational system?
- In my opinion, these changes in the educational system are important and necessary both for learners and educators. Transformations are needed in any sphere to keep up with the times and constantly develop and improve. Meaningful and systematic training based on the ELA B.E.S.T. standards will allow children in schools to grow smart, literate, competent, and cultured citizens who promote the ambitious directive of the Department of Education.
- Thank you for your answers and for being able to give me the time!
- You are welcome! Feel free to consult me!
An Interview with the Second Educator
- Hello! Thank you for taking the time to interview me! Tell me, please, what is the purpose of Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T standards and what or who is it aimed at?
- Hello! It is my pleasure too. Actually, Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T program aims to form that important knowledge and skills useful for students and develop a prosperous society. According to this concept, literacy is an integral part of the formation and development of a thinking person. By studying language and calculation skills, learners contribute to the development of their future and the life of American society as a whole.
- What skills, abilities, talents and knowledge do students learn through Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T?
- Students are taught reading and writing strategies in terms of understanding and constructing the meaning of various texts. In addition, through reading, studying literary and scientific works, discussion, and listening, learners replenish their vocabulary and improve their speech and thought processes. On the contrary, mathematical disciplines develop logic and critical thinking. The new standards are aimed primarily at the humanities and the simplification of mathematical calculating operations.
- In your opinion, what advantages and disadvantages does the new program have?
- In my personal opinion, ELA B.E.S.T has several stable components and characteristics that contribute to the deep, broad, and comprehensive development of a student’s personality. Due to the continuity of educational programs and their variability of content, the successful implementation of the original goals and objectives of the curriculum is achieved. Moreover, checking and evaluating students’ knowledge with the help of this program is a fairly simple procedure that allows you to determine the degree of achievement of the expected results. As for the shortcomings, these standards require rapid and prompt adaptation among students, teachers, and parents. There is a high risk and probability that many educational institutions will not cope with the new load and may fail in the educational process.
- Thank you very much for such an interesting conversation! I will take your answers into account for the future.
- Do not mention it. I wish you good luck and success in your activity!
My Definition of Curriculum and My Own Philosophy Regarding the Standards
ELA B.E.S.T. standards in Florida are a set of norms and rules of literacy standards created for a certain category of citizens and operating on the territory of an American state. In this case, the principle of B.E.S.T. represents certain indicators of students’ thinking, while the abbreviation ELA stands for English language arts (Berner & Steiner, 2020). Leading experts and professionals developed the new curriculum from the State of Florida. More than 80 stakeholders, including teachers and professors, participated in the process of working on programs and standards (WKMG ClickOrlando, 2020). This set of concepts is necessary for forming and developing education, erudition, and competence among learners of several educational institutions.
My philosophy regarding this standard is based on the following moments. In my opinion, the ELA B.E.S.T. curriculum is intended to enrich students’ knowledge of literacy and culture in educational aspects. Due to these standards, a learner will comprehensively reveal existing skills, abilities, and talents, thereby increasing their quality and significance within the tutorial process. Moreover, the acquired competencies can then be applied in practice both inside and outside a particular institution.
Philosophy of the Curriculum
Every developed concept has its philosophy, meanings, and principles. Consequently, Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T. has several significantly important functions, undeniable advantages, and significant differences from other programs. The main educational program defines the goals, objectives, planned results, content, and organization of the educational process. By nature, the standards developed by the Department of Education call learners and educators for literacy based on the ability to count, read, and write while realizing and analyzing the information received and recognized. Hence, meaningful, clear, and systematic education, as well as a thoughtful approach to educational resources, are the fundamental basis for the formation of an educated, thinking, and well-read nation (Wurman et al., 2020). The curriculum aims to form a common culture, spiritual and moral, civil, social, personal, and intellectual development of students. Besides, it makes their self-development, which ensures social success, the development of creative and physical abilities, and the preservation and strengthening of learners’ health. The aspects presented below comprehensively reveal the philosophy and constituent elements of the curriculum.
The Main Purpose of the Program
The main purpose of Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T curriculum is the development of literacy among students. It touches on points based on mathematical sciences; however, it prioritizes reading and writing skills in English. This is an extremely clear and easy-to-learn set of knowledge for both students themselves and teachers and parents (Wurman et al., 2020). The tasks based on ELA B.E.S.T are endowed with interesting and useful information for forming a clear-thinking person in society. For instance, Ronald Dion DeSantis argues that the accepted standards are a model of excellent thinking and flexibility of the mind of students, a benchmark for other states and countries (Friedberg et al., 2020). However, at the same time, the standards are not separated as a divided discipline but combined with other particularly valuable subjects.
It is assumed that with the help of these standards, students will be able to master mathematical abilities and the art of English language proficiency for full participation in the life of American society. In this context, mathematics and English are rich disciplines with no less meaningful content, which every self-respecting person must know. Consequently, ELA standards are designed to streamline and improve the current system, help students master programs at various levels more effectively, and move from step to step.
The Purposes in Terms of Their Inclusion as a School Program
The purposes are worth including in a school program for the following reasons. First of all, the state standards set clear and measurable goals and objectives that a student must achieve to successfully prepare for college, university, work, and life situations. ELA B.E.S.T evaluates the success of achieving these goals and mastery of knowledge by learners through testing (WKMG ClickOrlando, 2020). This is a fairly simple but at the same time, effective mechanism for assessing the level of training of students following the expected requirements of state authorities and society.
Secondly, Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T curriculum ensures the continuity of the main educational programs. In this case, continuity is expressed in the preservation and gradual change of the content, forms, methods, technologies, and results of education and upbringing. The elementary school prepares for middle school, the middle school prepares for high school, and so on. At each stage, a person receives everything necessary to move up the educational ladder without problems.
Thirdly, ELA B.E.S.T standards include the variability of the content of educational programs. In this case, the diversity and the possibility of choosing the content and forms of activity in the educational process are evaluated. It also considers the possibility of varying and combining the theoretical and practical parts of the content. Students are taught the same concepts but using different methods, strategies and tactics. The program becomes more complicated each time, thereby deepening the knowledge gained in specific subjects. Subsequently, trainees will have a fairly extensive set of competencies established by Florida state.
Fourthly, the standards aim at the comprehensive development of a person, not at improving highly specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and talents. The program focuses on reading and writing skills in English classes, counting, and computational processes in mathematical disciplines. For instance, English language learning standards focus on students’ abilities and not on the content of the curriculum itself. Slowly and gradually, learners begin with small basics, and focus on the meanings of words and phrases with the help of systematic rules. Trainees learn to understand the basic essence of the text, and its structure, notice the details and draw a general conclusion from this (WKMG ClickOrlando, 2020). Then, they will confidently be ready to master more complex grammatical, morphological, lexical, and phonetic constructions of their native language. In these situations, a person develops an analytical approach and flexibility of mind.
On the other hand, the standards in mathematical sciences are developed from the point of view of their usefulness and practicality in real life. The implemented tasks are quite simple and concise in structure, but at the same time, informative and informative in content. Trainees are not “piled” with various difficulties that would be impossible to overcome within the framework of a program of the appropriate level. Mathematical issues, equations, and calculations developed following the ELA B.E.S.T curriculum in all respects improve logical thinking and critical views on situations and phenomena in students.
Achieving the Purposes in the Context of The School with The Students
These purposes are best accomplished in the context of the school with the students in the following ways. From now on, the study of rhetoric, morphology, and civil law are among the fundamental components of the curriculum. In addition, replacing standard tests with SAT or ACT is the best way to assess the success or failure of implementing a new training system. According to numerous studies, focusing on the gradual increase in the level of complexity of educational materials ensures students’ effectiveness and productivity, high academic performance in the classroom, and good grades (Pimentel, 2017). Primarily, the information studied and assimilated by students is best achieved through a systematic and consistent approach to learning. Secondly, the achievement of the goals is carried out by repeatedly reading texts of varying complexity corresponding to the level of training of students. Thirdly, if students read as much as possible, they improve both vocabulary and understand texts more deeply. In fact, these elements will be extremely necessary for the future. Hence, strengthening basic skills, a careful reading of proven texts, and an emphasis on a high reading volume are all key to success in achieving the goals and objectives.
Description of The Standards’ Purpose and the Rationale for the School Curriculum
The Curriculum’s Type of Design and Approach
The design and approach of the curriculum are based on several principles reflecting the expected results from students from Florida. Based on the official document, one can conclude that the standards are quite simple, concise, and informative and do not stand out as a separate concept for training (Florida Department of Education). In this case, mastering the art of the English language in the context of ELA B.E.S.T is a combination of a wide range of components to help students be active in the life of society. The standards are available for review by any category of citizens, regardless of gender, age, skills, and abilities. The standards are competently combined; they do not just complement but reinforce each other. Accordingly, the educational materials provide food for thought in some way, making a person a citizen thinking and feeling. Besides, the standards have six expectations, or in other words, expected to implement learners’ skills. During the training process, students have been learning for several years to think over texts, offer opinions, prove and defend their points of view, and draw general conclusions following generally accepted rules.
The Objectives, Content, and Organization of Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T
The following objectives support the main purpose of Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T content. Firstly, literacy achievement, as the main purpose of ELA B.E.S.T, is possible due to students’ development of specific skills by the end of each class. Secondly, this process must necessarily include improving basic skills, reading and comprehension of meaningful text, listening, communication, and vocabulary replenishment. Thirdly, to get excellent results, it is necessary to increase the complexity and the load on learners every time. Fourthly, exams in the form of tests are used to assess the level of formation of students’ key competencies within the program’s framework.
Florida’s B.E.S.T. standards content is built on the elements and aspects recommended to be included in the curricula of educational institutions in Florida. Consequently, the organization is based on these elements, including six expectations that students need to achieve during the academic period. So, in the first stage, students learn to prove certain statements, and to argue their own opinions and judgments. They already skillfully read, understand specific literature, reflect on texts, and draw certain conclusions at the second and third stages. The fourth expected result is active participation in group discussions on specific issues. In the fifth stage, students apply the learned and studied rules for writing a first-class work. Accordingly, the sixth expectation is using the right voice and tone when writing and talking. Besides, learners must master skills that are already divided into four areas. These include foundations, vocabulary, reading texts, and communicating with peers.
The Difference Between the Task of Curriculum Planning from Unit and Lesson Planning
The task of curriculum planning is a procedure for making decisions and actions regarding the organization of the learning process, considering the curriculum, available resources, and materials. In general terms, the definition of significant elements for specific educational institutions, which relate to both the curriculum and a separate subject, is carried out. This task covers both the development of courses and seminars at the school or college level and the development of individual and classroom classes with students. On the other hand, unit planning is a component of measuring the quality and quantity of the lesson’s level, intensity, and significance. Lesson planning is a kind of teaching and learning containing a broader rationale for the content of learning. Therefore, the difference between the task and the units and the lesson in the planning framework lies in the scope of the educational elements and the variety of applications of these concepts in practice.
The Role of Context in Making Curriculum Decisions
The role of context in making decisions on the curriculum is indicated as follows. The meaning and importance of context are designated as one of the components of the educational process when an assessment of needs and opportunities in the educational aspect is undertaken. Within a specific curriculum framework, the leading role is given to making decisions regarding the format and type of training and the principles and concepts that need to be taught. Hence, the context in decision-making helps determine the expected volume and quality of information given to students.
The Characteristics of a Good Curriculum in Terms of the Relationships Between the Parts
A good curriculum consists of the range of basic knowledge, skills, and abilities to be learned in each academic subject. It includes a list of topics of the material being studied, recommendations on the amount of time on each topic, their distribution by years of study, and the allotted time for the entire course. The educational program’s content should be implemented based on integration principles, an integrated approach, and individualization, considering the specifics and advantages of the system of additional education, freedom of choice, variability, and psychological comfort.
Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T is competently structured and thought out to the smallest detail, lacking several changes. Nevertheless, the Department of Education should focus on oral poetry and spoken word and include these disciplines in the developed standards (Matherly, 2021). The poetry of the word will perfectly complement the recommendations and goals of the BEST standards and improve literacy and competence among students (Matherly, 2021). Despite this, the curriculum consists of several main components that define the target areas of study of the particular subjects in academic disciplines.
The actual content of education includes basic information, concepts, laws, and theories, a list of mandatory subject skills and abilities, and a list of general academic skills and abilities. Moreover, there are methodological guidelines on implementing the program concerning methods, organizational forms, teaching tools, and the assessment of the knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired by students in the process of studying the academic subjects. Special attention in the programs is paid to interdisciplinary connections, which are presented in a generalized form. This allows a teacher to show a creative approach to developing a working curriculum, planning, and implementing interdisciplinary connections in pedagogical reality.
The Levels of Planning
In fact, Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T curriculum is based on 12 grades. The Florida Department of Education has approved uniform benchmarks illustrating a specific coding scheme, including subject code, grade level, strand, standard, and benchmark (Florida Department of Education). Every year the curriculum level becomes more complicated in four areas: basic skills or foundations, reading, communication, and vocabulary. Then, starting from the 6th to the 8th grade, disciplines related to foundational skills are abolished. In addition, the ELA B.E.S.T standards include mandatory study materials and texts.
An Assessment Plan
There are several ways to assess how fully the expected results justify themselves. Primarily, students’ high motivation and desire to participate in the educational process is the initial and fundamental basis for the establishment of literacy and culture. Moreover, excellent academic performance and excellent indicators of learners’ productivity specify their desire for knowledge and implement an integrated approach to achieving the originally intended goals of the standards. Therefore, the ultimate goal of curriculum evaluation is to study the key elements of student learning quality. An organically clear synthesis of teaching concepts with learning principles is an integral part of determining results and achievements to one degree or another.
Due to Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T. curriculum, students receive a wide range of knowledge, skills, and competencies that are extremely necessary for continuing their studies and in work activities. Additionally, during and as a result of training, a trainee is ready to perform a fairly large spectrum of various practical and theoretical tasks and questions. The standards fill in the gaps among learners and supplement and develop them in a more improved way.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T standards represent a completely new and updated version of the curricula implemented in educational institutions at the state level. Actually, ELA B.E.S.T is a set of rules, norms, standards, and expected ideas about the educational process and students’ activities. Compliance with this program contributes to the development of literacy, competence, and the acquisition of the knowledge and skills among students necessary to implement successful activities and functioning within society.
References
Berner, A., & Steiner, D. (2020). Review of Florida’s BEST ELA standards. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University School of Education.
Florida Department of Education. (n.d.). Florida’s ELA B.E.S.T standards. Florida Department of Education. Web.
Friedberg, S., Shanahan, T., Fennell, F., Fisher, D., & Howe, R. (2020). The state of the sunshine state standards: Florida’s BEST edition. Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Matherly, S. (2021). Poetry beyond the page: A case for spoken word poetry in Florida’s secondary classrooms (Senior honors theses, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA). Web.
Pimentel, S. (2017). The essential elements of an ELA curriculum.
WKMG ClickOrlando. (2020). Florida’s B.E.S.T.: Here’s what’s next for the state’s new educational standard.
Wurman, Z., Steiner, D.M., Berner, A.R., & Milgram, R.J. (2020). Better than common core: Florida’s new K–12 standards raise the bar. Independent Institute, 1-22.