Alachua County 3rd Graders Make Strong Gains on FCAT

Alachua County 3rd graders continue to outperform their peers statewide on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, commonly known as the FCAT.

Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Education Commissioner John Winn today released preliminary FCAT results for 3rd-graders across the state. Those results show that 69% of Alachua County students scored at Level 3 or above on both the math and reading portions of the test, which means they are performing at or above grade level. The statewide averages are 68% in math and 67% in reading.

More students did well in both reading and math this year. The jump in the percentage of students who scored a 3 or above on math was particularly dramatic, from 60% in 2004 to this year’s 69%.

“We’re very pleased with the results,” said Sandy Hollinger, the district’s deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “Our teachers and administrators have been working very hard to raise the achievement levels of our students, and their efforts are paying off.”

Even struggling students are making gains in Alachua County.  The percentage of 3rd-graders scoring at a Level 1 on the math test fell from 21% in 2004 to 15% this year. In reading, the percentage of Level 1 scorers fell from 20% to 17%. Alachua County has fewer students at Level 1 in both areas than the state—for Florida, the percentage of Level 1 math students is 17% and readers is 20%.

Third grade is a critical year for students in Florida. Except in very limited situations, students who make a Level 1 on the reading portion of the FCAT cannot move on to 4th grade. 

Hollinger attributes the higher scores to a number of strategies that have been implemented in elementary schools in recent years. Those strategies include the placement of reading coaches in schools with higher numbers of low-performing students. More resources are also being targeted at the third grade, and students are assessed more frequently.

“The assessments help us pinpoint a student’s academic problems, which means teachers can address those problems more effectively,” she said.

Grade 3 FCAT Percentages*

 

Level 1

Level 3 or above

 

Alachua

Florida

Alachua

Florida

Reading

17%

20%

69%

67%

Math

15%

 17%

69%

68%

*Indicates percentage of students scoring at a particular achievement level.