FCAT Results Demonstrate Progress, More Needs to be Done

Friends,

The 2010 FCAT results have arrived. 
 

The latest results herald more good news about schools in Florida, a top-ten state in the nation for education.  More students than ever are mastering the skills to succeed in school and beyond.

Bold reforms introduced a decade ago are raising student achievement to new heights. In every grade, the percent of students performing at or above grade level in reading and math has made double-digit leaps since 2001. Students are learning, the achievement gap is narrowing and the A+ Plan for Education is working.
 
As we celebrate the success of Florida’s students with teachers, educators and parents across the state, we must also look to the horizon to ensure actions we take now and in the future will strengthen our progress.

In the coming year and beyond, the Foundation for Florida’s Future is committed to raising standards across the board, increasing performance-based funding, restoring reading as a priority, improving teacher quality and guaranteeing every Florida student access to a high quality education.

Directly from the Florida Department of Education, here are the 2010 results:

Elementary School (Grades 3 – 5 reading and mathematics, and grade 5 science)

• 71% are reading at or above grade level, a decrease of one percentage point from last year, but an overall increase of 17 percentage points since 2001.
• 72% are demonstrating mathematics skills at or above grade level, an increase of 20 points since 2001, but flat compared to 2009.
• 49% of fifth grade students are performing at or above grade level in science, up three percentage points from last year and 21 points since 2003. 

Middle School (Grades 6 – 8 reading and mathematics, and grade 8 science)

• The percentage of students reading at or above grade level increased by one percentage point in grades six and seven to 67% and 68%, respectively.
• The percentage of students demonstrating mathematics skills at or above grade level increased by one percentage point in grades five and seven to 63% and 61%, respectively and two points in grades six and eight to 67% and 68%, respectively.
• 43% of eighth grade students are performing at or above grade level in science, up two percentage points from last year and 15 points since 2003.

High School (Grades 9 and 10 reading and mathematics, and grade 11 science)

• The percentage of students reading at or above grade level increased by one point in grade nine to 48% and two points in grade ten to 39%.
• The percentage of students demonstrating mathematics skills at or above grade level increased by four points in grade ten to 73%.
• 38% of eleventh grade students are achieving in science at or above grade level, up one percentage point from last year and up five percentage points since 2005.

Florida’s continued learning gains confirm that accountability is working. The long-term trend of improvement over time is what is important to providing a quality education year-after-year. By any measure, more students are successfully reading and performing math and science than before the introduction of Florida’s A+ Plan for Education.

However, the results indicate that progress among Florida’s elementary school students has stagnated because the bar is set too low. It is imperative that we continue to challenge our elementary school students or the learning gains of the last decade may be lost.

The Florida State Board of Education has the opportunity this summer to set automatic “thresholds” to increase the number of points required to be an A, B, C, D or F school so that the bar for our elementary, middle and high schools will increase over time. Under the current school accountability structure which requires only 65% of students to demonstrate proficiency on grade level, nearly all of Florida’s elementary and middle schools are rated ‘A’ or ‘B,’ providing little incentive to succeed with a greater number of students. The Foundation for Florida’s Future supports the implementation of a new rule that would automatically increase this benchmark any time 80% of elementary or middle schools are rated ‘A’ or ‘B.’

To find more information on the 2010 FCAT results, please visit www.fldoe.org.  For more information on how the Foundation for Florida’s Future is Keeping the Promise, please visit www.afloridapromise.org.

Sincerely,

Patricia Levesque
Executive Director, Foundation for Florida’s Future