- DeSoto Trail Elementary
- Standards and Curriculum
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Standards and Curriculum
Introduction
Florida's standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts were adopted in 2020 and are called the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.). The Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science were adopted in 2008, and Florida’s State Academic Standards for Social Studies were adopted in 2023. Each set of standards outlines what students in each grade should be able to do by the end of the school year in that subject area. They form the basis for the curriculum (the lessons we teach and practice assignments students complete). School and state assessments are designed to document students' mastery of each standard.Standards
These sites provide in-depth information on all of Florida's standards for each subject.- CPALMS - the state's official source for all standards, listed by subject and grade level
- FloridaStudents.org - resources for students to practice each standard
- FLFAST.org - resources for families about the Florida Assessments of Student Thinking (FAST), which are the state standardized tests based on the standards.
Levels of Content Complexity
Each of Florida's standards is assigned a level of cognitive complexity. Students are expected to master the standard at or above the given complexity level. More information about Florida's levels of content complexity, which are based on the Depth of Knowledge Model by Dr. Norman Webb, is available from the Department of Education on their Cognitive Complexity/Depth of Knowledge Rating webpage.Curriculum
Leon County elementary schools use the following curriculum programs to teach Florida's standards:- Language Arts - MyView Literacy by Savvas
- Mathematics - Go Math! by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Science - ScienceFusion by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Parents, Teachers, and Coaches: Where Do Mindsets Come From?
Excerpt from the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. At DeSoto Trail, students are taught that they have the potential to achieve high academic goals, and a growth mindset is reinforced throughout the campus.