21 them very well. And teachers cannot rely on a textbook, which may or may not be very well aligned with the standards. It’s not a situation where just because a textbook says it’s aligned that it really is aligned well – aligned at the level of rigor and aligned enough that just using a textbook will insure teachers have covered the standards enough. I believe teachers need to know the standards and know them well. I think the textbook is something that can be used as a resource, but it cannot be relied upon for successful outcomes. NextGen: What are we doing right as far as education goes ������������������������������������������������ Commissioner Stewart: Very easy answer for me. There are lots of things that we do right in Florida. Fourth grade reading scores exceed the nation. Our Free & Reduced Lunch students outperform Free & Reduced Lunch students in the nation. We have done a very good job at narrowing the gap between all students and students with disabilities, and the gap between our white students and African-American students. We have closed the gap between all students and our Hispanic students. In some cases, our Hispanic students are exceeding the “all” category. We are number one in the nation in participation in Advanced Placement Exams. We actually have a higher number of students in the last year who have passed AP exams than the number who took them ten years ago. Our AP students are fourth in the nation in performance on these AP exams. So, not only do we have a higher percentage taking AP courses, these students are ranked fourth in the nation. Also, we have more IB diploma programs in our state than any other state in the nation. And those are just a few of our accomplishments that readily come to mind. ������������������ �������� ���������� ���������� ���������� ������������������ �������� ������������ �������������� ���� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������� Commissioner Stewart: What do we still have left to do? The very obvious answer is that until we have every student performing at grade level we have work to do. But what I would say my goal is, with 604 days remaining in my commission, is to narrow the gap between white and African-American students in a signi��cant way. Why do I choose that demographic when we have others? Like I said, Hispanic students have already closed that gap statewide. There potentially is something inherent with a student who has a disability achieving at the same level as all students. That’s why these students are in the programs they are. There is nothing inherent about an African-American student achieving to the same level as every other student. So, that’s the focus that we will have, at least, during my remaining 600 or so days as Commissioner. There are lots of reasons why that’s the goal that I have chosen and we are already doing the work. We have done some research on effective practices. We’ve also done some research on where in Florida this is happening and where we are doing a good job. The focus is now on how we can replicate that and see success. ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� magazine? Commissioner Stewart: One of the things I think is truly important for parents to do is to support their child’s learning and be supportive of school, in general. Volunteering at school is fantastic, but not the only way a student will be successful. A student needs to hear at home that there’s an expectation to do the work and always do their best. The other, probably most important thing a parent can do is read to their children, starting at birth. I ��rmly believe that parents are naturally their children’s best ��rst teacher.
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