ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Education announced on Monday the results of Florida’s second year of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) progress monitoring assessments.
This form of state assessments is fairly new, and Florida is the first state to implement this program. It differs from traditional high states testing at the end of the year and instead “provides teaching, students and parents with real-time, immediate and actionable data at the beginning, middle and end of the school year to drive student improvement,” according to a news release.
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The Florida Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz, Jr., said the results from the 2023-24 assessments demonstrated substantial student growth throughout the academic year, as well as year-to-year improvement across the state.
He also said these outcomes are indicative of the benefits of progress monitoring assessments and their effectiveness in driving student achievement.
“The substantial gains achieved by Florida’s students on all statewide assessments demonstrate that progress monitoring is working,” Diaz said in a news release. “I want to thank our teachers for their hard work in the classroom and the dedication of Florida’s students to growing throughout the year. Our dedication to our students and our willingness to change the status quo is why Florida is the number one state for education.”
A look at Central Florida counties
Brevard County
According to News 6 partner Florida Today, test scores released by the state Department of Education showed Brevard students scored at or above the overall scores for the state on mathematics and reading. They also showed improvement from the previous year.
To see a full look at their scores, click here.
Orange County
Orange County Public Schools saw an increase of 4% in Math and 3% in English Language Arts. Overall, the district’s achievement levels increased or remained the same in 17 of the 21 reported subject areas and grade levels from last year.
The percentage of students scoring Level 3 or higher was above the state’s percentage in the following subject areas and grade levels:
- FAST ELA PM3 taken by Grades 3, 4, and 5.
- FAST Mathematics PM3 taken by Grades 3, 5, and 8.
- Students who took the Geometry EOC.
- Statewide Science Assessments taken by Grades 5 and 8.
- Students who took the Biology and U.S. History EOCs.
The percentage of OCPS students scoring Level 3 or higher was the same as the state’s percentage in the FAST Mathematics PM3 for Grade 4.
Information from the Florida Department of Education courtesy of Orange County Public Schools.
Volusia County
Highlights from test scores from Volusia County Schools include:
- Middle and high school students (Grades 7-12) increased 30% in Algebra 1 achievement year over year, outpacing the state’s 4-percentage-point gain.
- Every high school increased the percentage of students meeting or exceeding proficiency on the Algebra 1, Geometry, and US History end-of-course exams (EOCs).
- For the Biology EOC, 91% of Volusia County high schools increased the percentage of students meeting or exceeding proficiency.
- Ormond Beach Middle School had a 100% Geometry EOC pass rate for the third consecutive year.
Information from the Florida Department of Education courtesy of Volusia County Schools.
A breakdown of the state numbers:
School year improvement:
- Performance increased by 20% over the school year in grades 3-10 for English Language Arts (ELA). In the Progress Monitoring 3 (PM3) assessment, 53% of students scored on grade level or above, compared to 33% in the first progress monitoring assessment (PM1).
- Scores over the 2023-2024 year increased by 20% overall, outpacing the previous year by 3%.
- The percentage of students scoring Level 1 (subject to possible retention) decreased from 25% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, the lowest percentage of Grade 3 students scoring Level 1 on ELA since 2019.
- In Mathematics, performance by students in Grades 3-8 increased by 42 percentage points from PM1 to PM3. In PM3, 56% of students scored on grade level or above, compared to 14% in PM1.
Year-over-year improvement:
- For ELA, 53% of students in grades 3-10 scored on or above grade level in PM3 in 2024 statewide, an increase of 4% from 2023.
- For mathematics, 55% of students scored on or above grade level in 2024 in PM3 and on the EOC, an increase of 4% from 2023. For EOC-tested courses, 53% of students scored at or above Level 3 on Algebra 1 assessments and 52% did the same on Geometry.
- In science courses, 53% of students in Grade 5 scored on or above grade level in 2024, a 2% increase from 2023. For Grade 8 students, 49% scored on or above grade level in 2024, a 2% increase from 2023.
- For social studies assessments, 67% of students scored at or above Level 3 in Civics in 2024, a 1% increase from last year, and 67% of students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024 in U.S. History, a 5% increase from 2023.
The Florida Department of Education additionally reported significant progress in closing the achievement gaps across all subjects, decreasing disparity in the academic performance between the progress of white students compared to African American and Hispanic students.
This information is courtesy of the Florida Department of Education.
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