Florida’s educational achievements are on the rise, but the state still has a long way to go in providing quality instruction to all students in all schools. A Vision for Great Teaching in Florida addresses how the status-quo is contributing to the stunting of student achievement and opportunity, and what research points to for solutions.

According to NAEP Reading Scores in Florida (2017), White, Black, Latino and low-income students differ greatly in fourth-grade proficiency in math and reading and graduation rates. Gaps in the education provided to students lead to outcome gaps each year, and those translate to opportunity gaps later in life. A Vision for Great Teaching in Florida makes the case for alignment of instructional practices, strong curricular materials, and student tasks geared to grade-level expectations in classrooms — evidence shows that this makes a tremendous impact on a student’s learning experience and outcomes.

Students want to and are capable of doing more, and educators must challenge students with rigorous content; weak content and low expectations hinder student success. How do we strengthen great teaching? Impact Florida believes that if education leaders are empowered to know how to recognize, support, and scale excellent teaching practices, we will see tangible results in the classroom.