FCAT Scores Show Solid Gains

BROOKSVILLE - Local administrators and teachers celebrated Tuesday with the release of the last batch of the district's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, which show significant gains since last year at several area schools.

Tuesday, officials released the fourth- through 10th-grade reading and math scores, along with fifth-, eighth-, and 11th-grade FCAT science exam results.

Schools that showed the most improvement in all subjects since last year included Spring Hill Elementary, Powell and Parrott Middle School and Nature Coast and Springstead High Schools.

"I am (particularly) pleased with Nature Coast and Springstead, because we've really been trying to show movement with the high schools," said Linda Peirce, the district's testing specialist.

"Also, Spring Hill and Parrott are Title I schools, so we're excited for them, too," she added. "We're hopeful that there will be a few schools that make Adequate Yearly Progress this year."

Officials measure proficiency by students who score at or above grade level, or level 3 and above.

In reading scores across the district, eighth-graders shot up 6 percent, ninth-graders were up 7 percent and 10th graders were up 4 percent.

There was also a 6 percent increase in the percentage of students passing to meet the graduation requirement, Peirce said.

"That's a shift. Normally, our lower grade levels do better," she said. "We're quite pleased and encouraged that our eighth-, ninth-, and 10th-graders did better. It's a nice change."

In math, district fifth-graders were up 4 percent and sixth- and eighth-graders were up 7 percent. Ninth-graders were up 11 percent and 10th-graders rose 4 percent.

"We also had a 4 percent increase in the percent meeting the graduation requirement for math," Peirce said.

In science, fifth-graders' scores rose 1 percent, eighth-graders were up 5 percent and 11th-graders were up 2 percent. But the amount of local students scoring a level 3 or above is still low. Across the district, 43 percent of fifth- and eighth-graders passed, and 36 percent of 11th-graders passed. "You don't want to feel happy about being at 43 percent," Peirce said. "We're still pretty low, but we're moving in the right direction."

Two grades whose scores showed noticeable declines across the district were fifth-grade reading and seventh-grade math, two areas that district staff will "look at further," Peirce said.

"An area of concern would be those two," she said. "Over the next couple of days, we'll start analyzing everything."

Other schools whose scores showed declines were Hernando High, Deltona Middle, Eastside Elementary and Moton Elementary, which all went down in several areas.

This was the fifth batch of scores from the annual state standardized test, which is part of the formula used to compute Florida's annual school grades, given in July.

The math portion of the test includes sections on number sense, measurement, geometry, algebraic thinking and data analysis. The reading portion consists of sections on words, purpose, comparisons and research.

The science portion of the test covers physical and chemical sciences, earth and space sciences, life and environmental sciences and scientific thinking.

Beginning at 6 a.m. Thursday, parents can view their students' scores online at www.fcatparentnetwork.com using a login and password provided by their school. Individual paper reports will be available June 18, either by mail or pick-up at schools.