{"id":18715,"date":"2013-05-24T16:18:38","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T20:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=18715"},"modified":"2013-05-24T16:18:40","modified_gmt":"2013-05-24T20:18:40","slug":"bennett-ready-to-drill-into-the-data-to-improve-fcat-reading-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/05\/24\/bennett-ready-to-drill-into-the-data-to-improve-fcat-reading-scores\/","title":{"rendered":"Bennett Ready To ‘Drill Into The Data’ To Improve FCAT Reading Scores"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wishard of Oz\/flickr<\/p>

Students get one more year of the FCAT, then they begin taking Common Core assessments.<\/p><\/div>\n

Education Commissioner Tony Bennett\u00a0is talking about today’s Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) results.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Florida Department of Education (DOE) released results from 3rd<\/sup> grade Reading and Mathematics assessments<\/a> as well as FCAT 2.0 Writing for grades 4, 8 and 10<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have relatively static third grade reading and math scores, we think the writing component is a real step forward,\u201d Bennett said, noting that scores for third-graders didn’t change much from last year.<\/p>\n

Overall, 3rd<\/sup> grade students increased their reading scores by one percentage point and math scores stayed the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a person that doesn’t believe that static scores are really ever acceptable. We can’t be satisfied,\u201d Bennett said, \u201cand frankly I think the flat performance in reading is something we should take special notice to given our emphasis on reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to drill into the data with our districts,\u201d Bennett said, \u201chelp our districts come up with improvement plans to make sure we are improving ourselves in those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a positive note, 4th<\/sup>\u00a0graders saw a nine-point increase in the percentage of students scoring at 3.5 or higher in writing.<\/p>\n

“The 4th grade writing results, I think, show incredible improvement,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n

As Florida transitions to\u00a0Common Core State Standards<\/a>,\u00a0Bennett said he expects to see improvement in all areas because\u00a0teachers will be better able to meet \u201cthe instructional needs of students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year, students will again take FCAT 2.0 Reading, Writing and Math – then switch to the new Common Core assessments in 2014-15.<\/p>\n

Tidbits from DOE:<\/p>\n

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