Results of the spring 2010 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), released today by the Florida Department of Education, showed that Sarasota County students’ scores were higher than state averages at all grade levels, in all subjects tested.
Compared to district FCAT averages last year, reading scores were 10 to 17 points higher in grades three through 10. Scores showed improvement in mathematics and in science at three grade levels. State Commissioner of Education Eric Smith has cautioned against comparing writing scores with those of previous years, since major changes were made to the writing test and the way the results are analyzed this year.
Because of a delay in scoring caused by technology issues with the state’s new testing contractor, NCS Pearson, districts and schools did not receive the FCAT results from FLDOE before the end of the school year. As a result, schools were not able to send individual results home with students before the end of the school year. Instead, test results will be mailed to parents and guardians later this summer.
The results released today include state, district and school results for grades four-10 reading and math, writing for grades four, eight and 10, and science for grades five, eight and 11. The grade three results released earlier in May have been combined with the results for grades four-10 released today to provide a comprehensive review of student performance at the elementary level. The state also released the grade 10 FCAT passing rates, which are reported separately for each content area.
FCAT scores are grouped according to five achievement levels. Students scoring level 3 or higher are considered to be proficient in that subject, according to the Sunshine State Standards set by the FLDOE. Results are based on all students tested, including English-language learners, students with disabilities and charter school students. District highlights of results and comparisons with state results are provided below.
Reading, grades three-10
District average reading scores are 10 to 17 percentage points higher than state averages across grades three-10.The percent of district students scoring as proficient in reading increased or held steady in four out of eight grade levels. Percentages increased in 2010 at grades seven, nine and 10; held steady at grade four and declined at grades three, five, six and eight. Compared to the state, 2010 district reading proficiency rates are 8 to 11 percentage points higher across grade levels.
Mathematics, grades three-10
The 2010 district average math scores improved at grades six, seven and 10. Scores remained constant at grades five and eight and declined at grades three, four and nine. Sarasota County’s mathematics average scores are higher than those statewide at all grade levels.
The percent of district students scoring as proficient in math increased at grades six, seven, eight and 10 and remained constant at grade five. Percentages fell at the other grade levels.
Sarasota County’s proficiency rates in math are higher than state rates by 7 percentage points at each elementary grade level, 7 to 11 points higher at middle school, and 6 and 8 percentage points higher than students statewide at grades nine and 10, respectively.
Science, grades five, eight and 11
The district’s 2010 average science scores increased at grades five, eight and 11. District science averages are 18, 16, and 9 points higher than those of the state at grades five, eight and 11, respectively.
The percent of students scoring in achievement levels 3-5 in science increased at grades five and 10 and decreased by two percentage points at grade 8.
Writing, grades four, eight and 10
Due to budgetary constraints, the FLDOE made major changes in 2010 to the writing portion of the FCAT. Because of these changes, the department recommends against comparing these writing scores to those of previous years. For the grades each school receives based on FCAT testing of their students, the 2010 writing component of the calculation will be based on the average of the percentage of students scoring a 3 and above and those scoring a 4 and above.
In Sarasota County, the percent of students at or above proficiency (achievement level 3) in writing was 96 percent for grade four, 98 percent in grade eight and 95 percent in grade 10, compared with the state levels of 94, 96 and 94 percent at or above proficiency for grades four, eight and 10, respectively.
The district’s percentages at or above achievement level 4 in writing were 73 percent (grade four), 82 percent (grade eight) and 73 percent (grade 10), compared with the state levels of 68, 76 and 72 percent for those grades, respectively.
Grade 10 FCAT graduation requirement passing rates
The 2010 district passing rates for grade 10 are 70 percent in reading, an 8-percentage point increase from last year, and 89 percent in mathematics, a 5-percentage point increase from last year. The district’s passing rates are higher than state averages.
Reports of district, state, and school-by-school summary results are available on the Florida Department of Education website at fcat.fldoe.org.