JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two Northeast Florida school districts had the highest scores in the state on end-of-year math and English language arts tests, according to recently released statewide data.
Last week, the Florida Department of Education published standardized test results for every county around the state.
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It was the first year the standardized testing included the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, also known as F.A.S.T.
RELATED: Gov. DeSantis signs bill that eliminates FSA in public schools, but state teachers union not happy
This comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis did away with FSA testing in favor of the new system which tests students three times a year with the goal of monitoring student progress and fostering individual growth. Students take a test at the beginning, middle and end of the school year.
Progress-monitoring tests in English language arts was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 three times a year. Math assessments for grades 3 through 8 were given to students on the same schedule.
In English for grades 3-10, St. Johns County had 71% of students performing at or above grade level on the third and final test, the highest score for a school district in the state. With the second-highest result, Nassau County scored 63%.
In math, Nassau County had the highest result in the state in grades 3-8 with a score of 78% and St. Johns County finished close behind at 77%.
The results show that a total of seven out of 11 Northeast Florida school districts in our area finished at or below the statewide mark of 50% in English grades 3-10. In math, local districts did better with just four of 11 area districts being below the statewide mark of 56% for grades 3-8.
One of the districts below the state score in both math and English was Duval County, which scored 6 percentage points lower in math and English.
Duval County Public School leaders addressed the issue last week.
“These results show that, in the big picture, our schools are not where they need to be with student academic outcomes,” Duval County School Board Chairwoman Dr. Kelly Coker said. “There are definitely some schools and some areas where our district shined, and I have great trust in Dr. (Dana) Kriznar (interim superintendent) to get this district fully refocused academically. I also know that our school principals and educators are 100 percent committed to our students and have the capabilities to meet this challenge. Finally, I have tremendous faith in this school board to select a superintendent who will move us from the back of the pack to the front of the pack in student success.”
News4JAX broke down all the F.A.S.T testing data by grade level in interactive graphs that you can find below. For a more detailed breakdown of results, visit FLdoe.org.
