Florida's core standards and assessments: A phenomenological exploration of Florida's alternative education teachers' lived experiences with pedagogical practices

The overall research problem addressed focuses on a change in standardized assessments in Florida. A newly developed, Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) aligns with the Florida Core Standards in order to determine student mastery. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Florida's alternative education teachers concerning their pedagogical practices and preparation of students for mastery of the Florida Standards Assessment and their perceptions concerning the meaningfulness and essence of the experience. Guided by Bandura's theory of teacher self-efficacy, this study explored the lived experiences of alternative teachers in preparing students for Florida's Core Standards as measured by FSA. The results of the semi-structured interviews with 10 teachers provided an understanding of the lived experiences of their preparation of students and their implemented pedagogical practices. Findings included teachers addressing the challenge of a new assessment standard. In addition, the central theme that emerged from the study revealed feelings of frustration with the lack of resources available, however the participants relied on their self-efficacy to overcome these challenges. Educational stakeholders may use the findings of this study to implement successful professional development programs addressing pedagogical practices for preparing students for standardized assessments and teacher preparation programs on building self-efficacy. Recommendations for future research include conducting a similar study using mixed methods or quantitative approaches, with a larger sample of participants for greater generalizability. This study adds to the body of knowledge regarding teacher self-efficacy, preparation, pedagogical practices and standardized assessment.