New school year brings more rigorous instruction to Florida students

The new academic year is about to begin in Florida's Tampa Bay area, which means students are one step closer to learning in classrooms fully aligned with the Common Core State Standards. According to the Florida Department of Education, the CCSS will be fully implemented in the 2014-2015 academic year.

As this is not far off, K-12 students can expect instruction this coming academic year to be more challenging than it was before, WTSP 10 News reported.

"The expectations are much higher and the workload on students even more rigorous," Heidi Smith, a teacher at McDonald Elementary School, told the news source.

For a preview of Common Core-aligned instruction, parents and students need only look at kindergartners at McDonald and other Florida schools. These pupils have been learning according to the CCSS for two years now and have set timelines for when they need to master certain skills.

For example, Smith said that kindergartners have to know their letters by the end of October, as opposed to taking their time memorizing them throughout the school year.