Alachua County Public Schools sees gains in FSA math scores, but still below state average

Gershon Harrell, The Gainesville Sun
·2 min read

Alachua County Public Schools' math test scores have been released by the Florida Department of Education and show the district made gains from the previous year, the largest being in Algebra.

The math Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), which is given to students in grades 3 through 8, scored a 52%, an uptick from last year's score of 51%. Overall, however, the district's math FSA collective score was below the state average at 55%.

For the algebra End of Course (EOC) exam, students scoring a 3 or above rose from 46% to 52%.

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And for geometry, the district's percentage also rose from 50% to 51%, data shows.

The county's algebra and geometry scores were higher than the state's overall score of 49% for the subjects.

Alachua County’s middle and high school students showed progress over their state peers on the math FSA. Students had a passing rate of 55% compared to the state's 50%.

English Language Arts FSA scores for grades 4 through 10 were also released for the school year. Districtwide, 52% of students scored a level 3 or above, matching with state's average.

Gabrielle Rodriguez, right, from the University of Florida College of Education teaches basic money skills to Akavion Milton, 8, at the Math and Science Night at Terwilliger Elementary School on Thursday, February 28, 2019 in Gainesville, FL. [SUZANNA MARS/SPECIAL TO THE SUN]
Gabrielle Rodriguez, right, from the University of Florida College of Education teaches basic money skills to Akavion Milton, 8, at the Math and Science Night at Terwilliger Elementary School on Thursday, February 28, 2019 in Gainesville, FL. [SUZANNA MARS/SPECIAL TO THE SUN]

Test scores for civics, science and history have not yet been released.

Officials are reviewing data for individual schools while awaiting those other scores to come in.

“We’ll be digging deep into the data so that we can see where students improved and where they didn’t,” said Jennie Wise, the district’s Chief of Teaching and Learning, in a news release. “That information will drive our instructional strategies for the upcoming school year.”

The 2021-2022 school year marked the end of the state's FSA model, which previously took the place of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

In September, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced to end of high-stakes testing, saying a more progress-monitoring focus would be used to individual growth and promote students.

The testing will be given three times a year during the 2022-2023 school year.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County schools sees bump in FSA math scores, still below state average