Manatee FCAT scores stagnant

MANATEE COUNTY — Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores released June 7 show Manatee County schools performed fairly stagnantly compared to last year and fell below the state average in both math and reading, in most grades.

Exceptions included Manatee County ninth graders, who performed as well as students across the state on reading, with 53% passing the test.

Manatee County eighth-graders beat the state average in math, with 55% passing the test compared to 51% across the state.

Manatee County students, overall, performed better on the math test than last year, although sixth-graders and seventh-graders didn’t perform as well.

Third- and fourth-graders did not perform as well as last year in reading, but all other grades improved slightly.

Seventy-one percent of students who took the geometry test earned a 3 or better on a scale of 5, while 69% earned similar scores in biology.

Satisfactory means scoring 3 or higher.

Algebra 1 scores fell just under the state average at 63%.

The new results come after FCAT scores released May 24 showed fewer than half of Manatee County’s third-grade students are reading or have math skills at or above grade level.

The county’s scores for third grade were stagnant compared to last year. This year, 49% of third graders had satisfactory marks in reading and math.

Last year, only half of third graders were proficient in reading, and 48% were proficient in math.

Additionally, less than half of Manatee students earned satisfactory marks on the writing component of the FCAT, although scores did improve for fourth- and eighth graders. Fourth-grade writing scores increased from 42% to 45%, and eighth-grade scores went from 41% to 44%.

Florida is moving toward fully phasing in new Common Core state standards. Across Florida, kindergarten and first-grade students started their Common Core education this school year.

By next year, the standards will be fully implemented in second grade, with phasing in for grades three through 12.

The 2014-15 school year will bring full implementation for all grade levels. Changes include the use of the new PARCC assessment, which will replace the FCAT.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected]