Florida Rejects Social Studies Textbooks, Requests Edits for Others. What You Need to Know
佛罗里达州拒绝社会研究教科书，要求为他人编辑。你需要知道的
Florida’s department of education announced its rejection of more than 30 textbooks for social studies instruction, and requests for edits of more than 40, earlier this month—a move some experts say highlights a new, confusing landscape for K-12 publishers.
本月早些时候，佛罗里达州教育部宣布拒绝30多本社会研究教学教科书，并要求编辑40多本教科书——一些专家表示，此举凸显了K-12出版商面临的一个新的、令人困惑的局面。
The state, one of the largest markets for textbook publishers, goes through a lengthy process of reviewing bids and then approving textbooks that align with state standards. Districts must then use half of the state funds allocated to them for curriculum purchases for state-adopted materials, but they can go off-list for the rest of the funds .
该州是教科书出版商的最大市场之一，经历了一个漫长的审查投标的过程，然后批准符合州标准的教科书。然后，学区必须将分配给他们的州资金的一半用于购买州采用的材料，但他们可以将其余的资金从列表中删除。
While publishers have always had to navigate different state standards in producing textbooks, Florida offers a case study in a new challenge to the process: laws that restrict instruction on topics of race and gender. Eighteen states, including Florida, have imposed bans and restrictions on teaching the academic concept known as critical race theory, and instruction on racism and sexism.
虽然出版商在制作教科书时总是不得不遵循不同的州标准，但佛罗里达州为这一过程提供了一个新挑战的案例研究：限制种族和性别主题教学的法律。包括佛罗里达州在内的18个州已经禁止和限制教授被称为批判种族理论的学术概念，以及关于种族主义和性别歧视的教学。
For publishers, Florida’s law meant that for the 2022-23 adoption cycle for social studies, the state gave specificationsto exclude “unsolicited” topics and theories. Specifically, “Critical Race Theory, Social Justice, Culturally Responsive Teaching, Social and Emotional Learning, and any other unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination are prohibited.”
对于出版商来说，佛罗里达州的法律意味着，对于2022-23年社会研究的采用周期，该州给出了排除“未经请求”的主题和理论的具体规定。具体来说，“批判种族理论，社会正义，文化响应教学，社会和情感学习，以及任何其他可能导致学生灌输的未经请求的理论都是被禁止的。”
In the list of rejected titles, the state made a notation for whether the texts included “special topics” without further detail.
在被拒绝的书目清单中，该州标注了这些文本是否包括“特殊主题”，但没有进一步的细节。
The edited textbooks approved in Florida won’t necessarily be made available in other states. For example, national publisher, McGraw Hill, says in a statement to Education Week that “any changes that we would make to our [Florida] submissions would not affect materials available in other states.”
佛罗里达州批准的编辑教科书不一定会在其他州提供。例如，国家出版商麦格劳·希尔在给《教育周刊》的一份声明中说，“我们对【佛罗里达州】提交的材料所做的任何改变都不会影响其他州的材料。”
The state approved 19 materials from the publisher, and rejected seven, though only four were listed as including “special topics.”
国家批准了出版商的19份材料，拒绝了7份，尽管只有4份被列为包括“专题”。
“We are going through the routine appeal process with the DOE, and evaluating our next steps,” a spokesperson for McGraw Hill said of the rejected titles.
“我们正在与能源部进行例行的上诉程序，并评估我们的下一步措施，”麦格劳希尔的发言人在谈到被拒绝的标题时说。
But the approval process this year for social studies books in Florida and a similar process for math textbooks done last year in the state highlight the broad reach and scope of legislation restricting instruction.
但是今年佛罗里达州社会研究书籍的批准程序和去年该州数学教科书的类似程序凸显了限制教学的立法的广泛影响和范围。
“These laws are amazingly ambiguous and they are still quite new,” said Eric Hirsch, executive director of EdReports, an independent nonprofit that reviews curricula from publishers.
“这些法律含糊不清，而且还是相当新的，”EdReports的执行董事埃里克·赫希说。EdReports是一家独立的非营利组织，负责审查出版商的课程。
“If you’re a publisher, you have these ambiguous signals about what it may mean to comply or not comply with the law.”
“如果你是出版商，你会有这些模糊的信号，知道遵守或不遵守法律意味着什么。”
How Florida’s rules for publishers changed
佛罗里达州对出版商的规定是如何改变的
Last year, Florida sent out specifications to social studies publishers which included a nod to legislation known as House Bill 7 which bans instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” students to believe concepts such as:
去年，佛罗里达州向社会研究出版商发出了详细说明，其中包括对众议院第7号法案的认可，该法案禁止“支持、促进、推进、灌输或强迫”学生相信以下概念的教学：
What exactly such instruction would entail, is not so clearly defined, Hirsch said. He added that similar wording in related legislation across other states is left vague and ambiguous enough to leave publishers and educators with questions about what crosses the line.
赫希说，这种指导到底需要什么，还没有明确定义。他补充说，其他州相关立法中的类似措辞含糊不清，足以让出版商和教育工作者对什么越界产生疑问。
Hirsch added that Florida’s specifications to publishers don’t clarify how to meet requirements without breaking the law.
赫希补充说，佛罗里达州对出版商的规范没有阐明如何在不违反法律的情况下满足要求。
For instance, the state requires that instructional materials include multicultural representation. It required this in thelast social studies adoption cycle in the 2016-17 school year though it has since edited the definition of multicultural representation.
例如，国家要求教学材料包括多元文化代表性。它要求在2016-17学年的最后一个社会研究采用周期中这样做，尽管它后来编辑了多元文化代表性的定义。
But in the current adoption cycle that still requires multicultural representation, the state also bans culturally responsive teaching. It does not define the term. It only says it is an aspect of critical race theory and that it differs from the statutory requirement that “in the selection of instructional materials, ... the propriety of the material shall include the consideration of the broad racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity of the students of this state.”
但是在当前仍然需要多元文化代表的采用周期中，国家也禁止文化响应教学。它没有定义这个术语。它只是说这是批判种族理论的一个方面，它不同于“在选择教学材料时，……材料的适当性应包括对本州学生广泛的种族、民族、社会经济和文化多样性的考虑”的法定要求。
Scholars behind the pedagogical approach broadly define culturally responsive teaching as “using students’ customs, characteristics, experience, and perspectives as tools for better classroom instruction.”
支持这一教学方法的学者广泛地将文化响应教学定义为“利用学生的习俗、特点、经验和观点作为更好的课堂教学的工具”。
“So in some ways, you are talking about making sure your materials are engaging, and representative of all, yet they can’t do these things over here,” Hirsch said.
“所以在某些方面，你在谈论确保你的材料吸引人，代表所有人，但他们不能在这里做这些事情，”赫希说。
There is also a lack of clarity in what the state defines as indoctrination of students, said Lawrence Paska, the executive director of the National Council for the Social Studies. In fact, indoctrination goes against the code of ethics for social studies instructors.
国家社会研究委员会的执行主任劳伦斯·帕斯卡说，国家对学生灌输的定义也不明确。事实上，灌输违背了社会学教师的道德准则。
“How do we expect achievement in history, civics, and social studies education to increase if we’re not creating an open, inclusive environment for learning, or instead creating an exclusive, restrictive environment,” Paska said. “I don’t see how exclusion translates to achievement.”
帕斯卡说：“如果我们不创造一个开放、包容的学习环境，或者创造一个排他性、限制性的环境，我们怎么能指望历史、公民和社会研究教育的成就有所提高呢？”“我看不出排斥如何转化为成就。”
The state’s publisher specifications also ban discussion of social justice, which it defines as closely aligned to critical race theory.
该州的出版商规范也禁止讨论社会正义，它将社会正义定义为与批判种族理论密切相关。
“Racial and social justice issues and protests, like with the murder of George Floyd and others, and what that says, these are current topics,” Paska said. “These are not just relevant and applicable, they’re relevant and applicable to kids’ daily lives, and are the issues that they will have to grapple with as adults.”
帕斯卡说：“种族和社会正义问题以及抗议活动，比如乔治·弗洛伊德和其他人被谋杀，以及这意味着什么，这些都是当前的话题。”“这些不仅仅是相关和适用的，它们与孩子们的日常生活相关和适用，是他们成年后必须解决的问题。”
Teachers too are seeking out textbooks and other instructional materials that can engage their students and apply to their experiences.
教师们也在寻找能够吸引学生并应用于他们经历的教科书和其他教学材料。
In an EdReportsreport published last year with 2021 data from the RAND Corporation’s American Instructional Resources Survey, about 82 percent of English/language arts, mathematics, and science teachers, asked to indicate how they choose instructional materials, said it was extremely important that materials “will be engaging or compelling to my students.”
在去年发布的一份包含兰德公司美国教学资源调查2021年数据的EdReportsreport报告中，约82%的英语/语言艺术、数学和科学教师被要求说明他们如何选择教学材料时表示，材料“将吸引或吸引我的学生”是极其重要的。
About 42 percent of surveyed teachers said including “content and approaches that are culturally relevant” was extremely important.
约42%的受访教师表示，纳入“与文化相关的内容和方法”极其重要。
“So publishers have this vague kind of signal up here [at the state level]. And then they have the people who actually buy the contracts saying, “We really need this, but you can’t violate the law,” said Hirsch of EdReports.
“所以出版商在这里（在州一级）有这种模糊的信号。然后他们让实际购买合同的人说，“我们真的需要这个，但你不能违反法律，”EdReports的Hirsch说。
What ultimately happened to Florida social studies textbooks
佛罗里达社会研究教科书最终发生了什么
In a May 9 press release, the Florida education department shared that initially only 19 of the 101 submitted textbooks were approved with the rest rejected “due to inaccurate material, errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida law.”
在5月9日的一份新闻稿中，佛罗里达州教育部表示，最初提交的101本教科书中只有19本获得批准，其余的被拒绝，“原因是材料不准确、错误和其他信息不符合佛罗里达州的法律”。
“Since then, the department has worked directly with publishers, who have updated their materials to comply with Florida’s rigorous standards,” it added.
“从那时起，该部门直接与出版商合作，出版商更新了他们的材料，以符合佛罗里达州的严格标准，”它补充说。
The state posted five samples of edits made, in which they cited rationales such as “not age appropriate” when referring to a sentence about talking to students about why some people choose to kneel during the national anthem and “unsolicited topics” when referring to a paragraph on calls for social justice in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
该州公布了五个编辑样本，其中他们引用了一些理由，如在提到与学生谈论为什么有些人选择在国歌期间下跪的句子时“不适合年龄”，以及在提到乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）被谋杀后呼吁2020年社会正义的段落时“不请自来的话题”。
But the agency offered few other concrete citations, nor publicly cited which textbooks contained the five sample edits.
但是该机构很少提供其他具体的引用，也没有公开引用哪些教科书包含了五个样本编辑。
In one case, the state rejected the only bid submitted for Florida’s African American History course. (No publishers submitted bids for this course during the 2016-17 adoption, according to the state.)
在一个案例中，该州拒绝了佛罗里达州非裔美国人历史课程的唯一投标。（根据该州的说法，在2016-17年的采用期间，没有出版商提交该课程的投标。）
The publisher of The African-American Experience, 2022, ABC-CLIO, did not respond to requests for comment from Education Week. But the Tampa Bay Times reported that the book covers segregation, discrimination, police brutality, and institutional racism.
《2022年非裔美国人的经历》的出版商ABC-CLIO没有回应《教育周刊》的置评请求。但《坦帕湾时报》报道称，这本书涵盖了种族隔离、歧视、警察暴行和制度性种族主义。
The book “was not adopted because the material included topics that are contrary to Florida law,” the Florida department of education said in an emailed response to Education Week.
佛罗里达州教育部在给《教育周刊》的电子邮件回复中说，这本书“没有被采纳，因为材料中包含了违反佛罗里达州法律的主题”。
Another publisher, Studies Weekly, had in some versions edited out mention of Rosa Parks’ race in explaining why she was asked to move to a different seat, according to a March article by The New York Times.
根据《纽约时报》3月份的一篇文章，另一家出版商《研究周刊》在解释罗莎·帕克斯为什么被要求换一个座位时，在一些版本中删除了提及她的种族。
In a press release that same month responding to the article, the publisher said that “because the Florida department of education provided no guidance on interpreting Florida House Bill 7, Studies Weekly, like every publisher, has had to decipher how to comply with their legislation.” The press release went on to say that unapproved revisions were submitted to the state but Studies Weekly could not make changes in time.
在同一个月回应这篇文章的新闻稿中，出版商说，“因为佛罗里达州教育部没有提供解释佛罗里达州众议院第7号法案的指导，所以《研究周刊》和每个出版商一样，不得不破译如何遵守他们的立法。”新闻稿接着说，未经批准的修订已提交给国家，但研究周刊不能及时做出修改。
“Prior to the publication of the adoption list, Studies Weekly was informed that their textbook would not be adopted due to the fact that they submitted incorrect files,” a Florida agency spokesperson said.
“在公布采用名单之前，《研究周刊》被告知，由于他们提交的文件不正确，他们的教科书不会被采用，”佛罗里达州的一名机构发言人说。
What happens now
现在发生了什么
News about edits made to Florida social studies textbooks has already drawn attention from at least one other state.
关于佛罗里达社会研究教科书编辑的消息已经引起了至少一个其他州的注意。
The office of California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom reported in a May 20 tweet that it filed records requests with Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida department of education, and publishers “to find out whether any of the companies designing California’s textbooks are the same ones kowtowing to Florida’s extremist agenda.”
加州民主党州长加文·纽瑟姆（Gavin Newsom）在5月20日的一条推特上报告称，他们向佛罗里达州共和党州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯（Ron DeSantis）、佛罗里达州教育部和出版商提交了记录请求，“以查明设计加州教科书的公司是否也是向佛罗里达州极端主义议程磕头的公司”。
In a response to Newsom’s tweet, Florida’s education department communications director, Alex Lanfranconi, tweeted a GIF from the 2004 movie “Mean Girls.” In an emailed comment to Education Week, Lanfranconi praised Florida’s success in education adding that “maybe elected officials in other states should be taking notes.”
作为对纽瑟姆推特的回应，佛罗里达州教育部通讯主任亚历克斯·兰弗兰科尼在推特上发布了一张2004年电影《贱女孩》的GIF。在给《教育周刊》的电子邮件评论中，兰弗兰科尼称赞了佛罗里达州在教育方面的成功，并补充说“也许其他州的当选官员应该做笔记”。
In a May 9 press release announcing the approved and rejected lists of textbooks, Manny Diaz Jr., Florida education commissioner said, “to uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available—materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric.”
在5月9日的新闻稿中，佛罗里达州教育专员小曼尼·迪亚兹（Manny Diaz Jr.）宣布了批准和拒绝的教科书名单，“为了坚持我们的卓越标准，我们必须确保我们的学生和教师拥有最高质量的可用材料——这些材料专注于历史事实，没有不准确或意识形态言论。”
This level of involvement of governors in curriculum materials, with records requests across state lines, is new, Hirsch said.
赫希说，州长对课程材料的这种参与程度，以及跨州的记录请求，是新的。
“It speaks to the politicization of curriculum,” beyond the politics involved in state departments of education’s adoption processes.
“这说明了课程的政治化，”超越了州教育部门采用过程中涉及的政治。
It also speaks to the importance of transparency in the adoption processes for educators and the public at large for informed decisions when purchasing materials, he added.
他补充说，这也说明了教育工作者和公众在购买材料时做出明智决定时，采用过程透明度的重要性。
Publishers are currently still able to appeal rejections of their textbooks in Florida and make revisions as needed. And school districts can already begin to purchase materials from the approved list.
出版商目前仍然可以对佛罗里达州的教科书被拒提出上诉，并根据需要进行修改。学区已经可以开始从批准的清单中购买材料。
The next time the state will adopt social studies textbooks will be in 2027-28.
该州下一次采用社会学教科书将是在2027-28年。
The next subject up for an adoption cycle is science, for which specifications also prohibit the “unsolicited theories” listed for social studies.
采用周期的下一个主题是科学，其规范也禁止为社会研究列出的“主动提供的理论”。
Science textbook publishers are also asked to make sure their materials align with state statutes that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
科学教科书出版商还被要求确保他们的材料符合州法规，即“学校工作人员或第三方关于性取向或性别认同的课堂教学不得在幼儿园到三年级进行，也不得按照州标准以不适合学生年龄或发展的方式进行。”
