Third-graders post lower FCAT scores

Although a number of Manatee County schools showed significant improvements in third-grade reading and math scores, the overall percentage of district third-graders scoring at grade level or above declined in relation to 2008, according to Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released today by the Florida Department of Education.

Among the third-grade scores released today in reading, the percentage of Manatee third-graders scoring at Level 3 or above dipped from 71% in 20008 to 68% in 2009. In math, the percentage of Manatee  third-graders scoring at Level 3 or above decreased from 75% in 2008 to 70% in 2009.

“We’re not happy with these results, therefore we will spend time looking deeply at specific data to determine what factors contributed to this outcome,” said Lynette Edwards, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

At the individual school level, five district schools recorded improvements in both reading and math. Manatee School of Arts and Science, a charter school, improved its scores by 12% in both reading and math in relation to 2008. In addition, Blackburn Elementary improved its reading and math results by 11%; Braden River improved reading 4% and math 7%; McNeal improved reading 2% and math 4%; Bayshore improved reading 3% and math 1%.

“We had some schools that made significant improvements and we need to recognize that,” said Dr. Louis Robison, Executive Director of School Improvement and Accountability. “At the same time there are a number of areas we can evaluate to see what they tell us about the scores we received today.”

Over the last two years, Manatee  students have shown consistent improvement in almost every FCAT area tested. Already in 2009, Manatee students showed significant gains in FCAT writing results and district 12th-graders taking FCAT retake tests topped state averages in both reading and math.