Sarasota's FCAT scores improve

Sarasota County students in all grades tested increased their scores on the spring FCAT exam this year.
The results were released Thursday and show students in the three grades tested — fourth, eighth and 10th — all improved their writing scores.

Additionally, fourth-graders achieving a 3.5 or higher on the essay portion of the exam rose to 91% this year from 85% in 2008. Eighth-graders went from a score of 90% last year to 92% this year, and 10th-graders’ scores were steady at 75%.

A 3.5 score is considered to be on grade level.

The number of students scoring 4.0 or higher increased from 75% to 84% for fourth-graders. For eighth-graders, the percentage of students achieving at least a 4.0 score went from 81% last year to 84% this year. However, tenth-graders’ scores declined slightly, going from 59% last year to 58% this year.

The fourth- and eighth-grade scores all beat the state average. Tenth-grade scores are two-to-three percentage points below the state average.

Contact Rob Roy at [email protected].