The state education ministry last week rejected 54 of 132 math textbooks submitted by publishers. The books do not meet his criteria for excellent student thinking standards or have been rejected for including critical racial theory (CRT), social emotional training (SEL) and others, it said.
Some conservative groups argue that critical racial theory and social emotional learning are used to indoctrinate students.
Images published this week of books the state said were not accepted include references to “racial prejudice” and SEL. Which books they are from and their full context is not clear.
Department spokeswoman Cassie Palelis did not identify the books and referred CNN to the agency’s website, showing “several examples” that were “received from the public.” It is unclear what the specific concerns were about the four examples.
“Currently, those who have submitted textbooks for review still own the material (ie their content is copyrighted and we are currently unable to release it publicly, pending review),” she wrote.
Examples mention “measuring racial prejudice” and “implicit association test”.
Another said that “the purpose of SEL” is to help students “build social awareness skills while practicing empathy with classmates.”
The fourth includes a word or phrase that has been edited. It also says, “This feature is designed to build a student agency, focusing on students’ social and emotional learning.”
The images were published with a disclaimer, which reads in part: “These examples do not constitute an exhaustive list of information received from the department. The department continues to enable publishers to address any deficiencies identified during the review to ensure the widest selection of high-quality teaching materials is available to school districts and students in Florida. “
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SEL helps students “develop strong identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships and make responsible and caring decisions,” says the Academic, Social Cooperation. and emotional learning.
More than a dozen states have set standards for teaching SEL in primary schools, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. But as more countries consider SEL strategies, conservative groups say critical racial theory is embedded in them.
Opponents argue that the CRT is based on Marxism and a threat to the American way of life. But scholars who study it say it explores how the history of inequality and racism is affecting American society today.
Florida officials want to “focus education on the actual strong academic performance of students,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.
“We don’t want things like math to have, you know, some of these other concepts introduced. It hasn’t been proven to be effective and honestly, it takes our eyes off the ball,” the governor told reporters during a news conference.
Andrew Sparr, president of the Florida Education Association, called for transparency on how the U.S. Department of Education made the decision, including examples of “junk” content and details of those who reviewed textbooks and their qualifications.
CNN’s Tina Burnside and Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.
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