A Florida Promise: A++ Rigor & Relevance
Challenging Students to Succeed
Challenging students with a rigorous curriculum in middle and high school builds on the intensive instruction of elementary school. Making education relevant to students will also keep them interested and engaged in learning. A combination of rigor and relevance will keep students engaged in learning through high school and beyond.
Raising the Bar and Making it Interesting
In 2006, Florida brought sweeping reforms to middle and high schools. The A++ Plan restored rigor to the curriculum and returned relevance to the classroom. Empowering students to take charge of their education and start thinking about their future will help keep them interested and focused on learning today.
Today, students in middle school are required to take a full year of language arts, math, science and social studies every year. Students in middle school must also take a course in career and education planning.
In high school, students are required to earn 24 credits, including 16 core courses and 8 elective credits.
To organize our education system around the needs of each child, schools are required to provide additional and accelerated instruction. To help struggling students, schools provide intensive reading instruction. For students who are looking for a challenge, middle schools offer a high school level math class, like Algebra, where students can earn credit for high school.
Under the A++ Plan, some schools are creating career academies, and “schools within schools.” These small learning environments combine a college-prep curriculum with a career theme – like nursing – to get students on the right path to their future profession.
Perhaps the most innovative component of the comprehensive plan is a requirement that high school students select a major, just like in college. Florida’s high school students will become the first in the nation to earn a major by completing four elective classes in a subject area. In the first year alone, schools around the state created more than 400 majors, many from existing staff and courses. Click here to view a list of high school majors in each Florida school.
Getting Ready for College
In 2000, Florida launched a strategic partnership with the College Board to challenge students and better prepare them for college. The program expanded the availability of Advanced Placement courses and offered the PSAT, the pre-test to the nationally-recognized college entrance exam, the SAT, to tenth graders for free. According to independent research, students who take Advanced Placement courses in high school are more likely to achieve academically in college.
Learn more about the College Board partnership and Florida’s commitment to get students ready for college.
Career Training
In 2006, Florida also launched the “Florida Ready to Work” program to better prepare students for the workforce. An online test assesses student knowledge and skills. Students that possess competence and proficiency are certified as ready for a particular job. To sharpen their skills or acquire new abilities, students can take online training and remediation courses.
Businesses acknowledge the credential as independent verification of a job candidate’s skill level, which saves them time and money in recruiting prospective employees. Additionally, companies can create specialized job profiles to attract employees to hard-to-fill or high-turnover jobs.
