Newly released FCAT scores show Florida students' writing has increased significantly, but school grades are still likely to go down when accountability reports are released later this year.
We want to be very careful to message that what we [see] is increased student performance, Education Commissioner Tony Bennett told reporters Friday as he released the results of the FCAT 2.0 Writing and third-grade Reading and Mathematics assessments. But because the bar was raised, it very well could have the impact of lowering school grades. We anticipate that.
Bennett was referring to new school accountability standards that consider a 3.5 (out of 6.0) score on the FCAT Writing assessment to be satisfactory, instead of the 3.0 required in previous years. Schools are likely to be negatively impacted by the new FCAT results, despite the fact that 58 percent of the state's fourth-, eighth-, and 10th-graders (those grades given the assessment) meet the 3.5 threshold, 4 percent more than did last year.
It was a sour note to an otherwise positive set of announcements Friday morning. Florida students especially fourth-graders showed significant gains on their writing scores; and while overall scores for mathematics remained steady, modest gains were made in reading and minorities showed improvements even in mathematics.
Schools themselves might not reap the reward, but individual teachers might. School grades do affect school funding, but they do not factor into teacher evaluations or merit pay, and school districts have it in their discretion to incorporate the improved scores in those evaluations.
Among the highlights of Friday's release:
FCAT 2.0 Writing
Fourth-graders saw 9-point improvement in the percentage of students scoring at 3.5 and above.
Eighth-graders and 10th-graders each improved by 2 percentage points.
The number of African-American and Hispanic students scoring 3.5 and higher increased by 6 and 4 percentage points respectively.
The percentage of English-language learners and students with disabilities who scored 3.5 and higher also increased by 4 percent.
Third-Grade FCAT 2.0 Reading and Mathematics
A 3 (out of 5) or above was received by 57 percent of students a satisfactory score on the reading portion, up 1 percentage point from last year.
A little over 83 percent of students received at least a 2 on the reading portion, making them eligible for promotion to the fourth-grade. A 2 score is below satisfactory, but still passing.
Math scores held steady, with 58 percent of students receiving a 3 (out of 5) score or higher, same as last year. (There is no required passing mathematics score.)
The number of African-American, Hispanics, and and English-language learners earning a 3 in mathematics each increased by 1 percentage point.
Gov. Rick Scott lauded these results.
Over the past two years, Florida teachers and students have made incredible gains, including news that Florida jumped from 11th to sixth for the overall quality of its education system and Florida fourth-graders are among the best in the world for reading., he said in a statement. Todays report that student performance is improving lends further credence to why it was so important we provide teachers throughout Florida with a pay raise. Moreover, were heartened to see writing scores improving as well as the achievement gap among students decreasing. That means that more and more Florida students are receiving a quality education, which provides more families opportunities to pursue the American dream, right here in the Sunshine State.
Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Floridas Future, an education reform think tank founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, emphasized the work of teachers over the past year in contributing to the higher scores.
Last year, for the first time in many years, this writing exam demanded attention to spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, grammar and logical supporting statements, she said in a statement. Our teachers clearly helped more students master these important skills. Their hard work this past school year paid off, and parents all Floridians should be proud.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
