Manatee County Students' FCAT Scores Fall This Year

struggled with tougher grading on state standardized tests this year. While the school district was exactly at the middle of the pack in grades across the state, just half of freshmen and sophomores passed reading and writing assessment even with the on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test writing portion.

It's been a tough transistion for many schools across the state as Florida ramps up standards and strengthens assessments as it prepares for more demanding  nationwide academic educational standards in 2015.

Half of Manatee County students struggled with the higr standards in reading, 52 percent of the county's ninth graders passed by reading at level 3 (out of 6) or above. Exactly half of Manatee County tenth graders scored Level 3 or above.

Manatee County students were a mirror for state averages.

The Florida Department of Education released results today for ninth and tenth grade FCAT 2.0 Reading and FCAT Writing as well as retake results.

• 52 percent of students in grade 9 were performing at or above Achievement Level 3 (on grade level) on FCAT 2.0 Reading.
• 50 percent of students in grade 10 received passing scores performing at or above Achievement Level 3 on FCAT 2.0 Reading (a decline from 60 percent in 2011 when the passing score was set within Achievement level 2).

“Although we have work to do, we view our reading results as a step in the right direction for our school district,” said Tim McGonegal, superintendant of the Manatee County School District. “We’ve taken major steps to restructure our Teaching and Learning division and we are targeting strategies to improve our scores across the board.”

The state Department of Education released test results Friday for the increasingly controversial FCAT.

The Florida State Board of Education held an emergency meeting Tuesday and lowered the performance level standard from a 4.0 to a 3.0 on a scale of 6.0; instead of a 4.0 on a scale of 6.0 as it was last year.

The board lowered the passing score after reviewing preliminary scores that indicated significantly lower student performance across the state. The board decided that students didn't do as well because of an increased focus on writing conventions, such as grammar, and the quality of details provided as support when writing an essay.

Last year, the designated level of achievement was 4.0, and the year before that, it was 3.5. The FCAT Writing test is only given to students in fourth, eighth and tenth grades.

Seventy-six percent of Manatee District fourth graders score a Level 3 or above; just 22.3 percent scored level 4 or above. Last year the percentage of Manatee District fourth graders scoring Level 4 or above was 74%. 

The percentage of Manatee District eigth graders scoring a Level 3 or above is 68.9%. The percentage of Manatee District eigth graders scoring Level 4 or above is 23% this school year. Last year, the percentage of Manatee District eighth graders scoring Level 4 or above was 77%.

The percentage of Manatee District tenth graders scoring a Level 3 or above is 80.5%. The percentage of Manatee District tenth graders scoring Level 4 or above is 32% this school year. Last year, the percentage of Manatee District tenth graders scoring Level 4 or above was 74%.

Across the state, 81 percent of students in fourth grade earned a score of 3.0 and above on FCAT Writing, compared to 78 percent in grade 8, and 84 percent in grade 10.

The average writing score for Manatee District fourth graders fell from 3.8 in 2011 to 3.1 this year. The average writing score for Manatee District eighth graders moved from 4.0 in 2011 to 3.1 this year; while the average writing score for Manatee District tenth graders fell from 3.9 in 2011 to 3.3 this year.

At McNeal Elementary 98% of fourth graders scored Level 3 or higher, while at Rogers Garden Elementary, 83% of fourth graders were Level 3 or higher. Buffalo Creek Middle School also posted strong results with 86% of eighth graders scoring Level 3 or higher.

“I’m very proud of the hard work and intense efforts of our students and teachers as they are adapting to the changes in the FCAT Writing exam,”  McGonegal said.