FLDOE releases Progress Monitoring Assessments

Press release from Florida Department of Education; Alachua County test results added by Jennifer Cabrera

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr., announced the successful results of Florida’s second year of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) progress monitoring assessments. Additionally, the Commissioner highlighted End of Course (EOC) and Science assessments. Results from the 2023-2024 assessments demonstrate substantial student growth throughout the school year and notable year-over-year improvement across the state. These outcomes are a testament to the power of progress monitoring and its effectiveness in driving student achievement.

Florida has been at the forefront of implementing progress monitoring to better serve our students. Unlike traditional high-stakes testing at the end of the year, progress monitoring provides teachers, students, and parents with real-time, immediate, and actionable data at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to drive student improvement. This enables immediate adjustments to teaching methods and improved communication between educators and families.

“The substantial gains achieved by Florida’s students on all statewide assessments demonstrate that progress monitoring is working,” said Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “I want to thank our teachers for their hard work in the classroom and the dedication of Florida’s students to growing throughout the year. Our dedication to our students and our willingness to change the status quo is why Florida is the number one state for education.”

Takeaways from the 2023-2024 ELA and Mathematics FAST Assessments

School Year Improvement

• Grades 3-10 ELA: Performance increased by 20 percentage points over the school year. In Progress Monitoring 3 (PM3) assessment, 53% of students scored on grade level or above, compared to 33% in Progress Monitoring 1 (PM1) assessment. Alachua County students improved by 15% over the school year; in the PM3 assessment, 52% of students (lower than the state average) scored on grade level or above, compared to 37% in the PM1 assessment.
  • State-wide, scores over the 2023-2024 year increased by 20 percentage points, outpacing the previous year by 3 percentage points.
  • The percentage of students scoring Level 1 (subject to possible retention) decreased from 25% in 2023 to 22% in 2024, the lowest percentage of Grade 3 students scoring Level 1 on ELA since 2019. The percentage of Alachua County students scoring Level 1 was 23%, indicating that more students are subject to possible retention than the statewide average.
• Grades 3-8 Mathematics: Performance increased by 42 percentage points from PM1 to PM3. In PM3, 56% of students scored on grade level or above, compared to 14% in PM1. Alachua County students improved by 14% over the school year; in the PM3 assessment, 51% of students scored on grade level or above (lower than the state average), compared to 17% in the PM1 assessment.

Year-over-Year Improvement

• Grades 3-10 ELA: Statewide, 53% of students scored on or above grade level in PM3 in 2024, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2023. In Alachua County, 52% of students scored on or above grade level in PM3 in 2024, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2023.
• Mathematics (PM3 and EOCs): Statewide, 55% of students scored on or above grade level in 2024, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2023. In Alachua County, 51% of students scored on or above grade level in 2024 (four percentage points lower than the state average), an increase of one percentage point from 2023.

Takeaways from Statewide Science Assessments

• Grade 5 Science: 53% scored on or above grade level in 2024, a 2 percentage point increase from 2023. In Alachua County, 50% of grade 5 students scored on or above grade level in 2024, lower than the state average.
• Grade 8 Science (including Grade 8 students who took Biology 1): 49% scored on or above grade level in 2024, a 2 percentage point increase from 2023. In Alachua County, 43% of students scored at grade level or above in Grade 8 science, and 67% of eighth-graders who took Biology 1 scored at grade level or above.
• Biology 1: 66% scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, a 3 percentage point increase from 2023. 69% of all Alachua County students who took Biology 1 (higher than the state average) scored at grade level or above.

Takeaways from Statewide Algebra 1 and Geometry Assessments

• Algebra 1: 53% of students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, a 3 percentage point increase from 2023.
• Geometry: 52% of students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, a 6 percentage point increase from 2023.

Takeaways from Statewide Social Studies Assessments

• Civics: 67% of students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, a 1 percentage point increase from 2023. 60% of Alachua County students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, lower than the state average.
• U.S. History: 67% of students scored at or above Level 3 in 2024, a 5 percentage point increase from 2023. 69% of Alachua County students scored at or above Level 3 in the spring end-of-course assessment, higher than the state average of 68% on that assessment.

Closing Achievement Gaps Across Subjects

Results by race have not been released to the public, so comparisons of Alachua County to state results are currently unavailable.

• ELA: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 1 percentage point compared to 2023.
• Mathematics: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 2 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 1 percentage point.
• Algebra 1: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 4 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 1 percentage point.
• Geometry: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 3 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 1 percentage point.
• Grade 5 Science: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 3 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 2 percentage points.
• Grade 8 Science: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 2 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 1 percentage point.
• Biology 1: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 5 percentage points and between Hispanic students and white students by 2 percentage points.
• Civics: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 1 percentage point.
• U.S. History: The achievement gap between African American students and white students narrowed by 5 percentage points, and between Hispanic students and white students by 2 percentage points.

For more information about this year’s assessment results, visit 2023-24 Assessment Results .

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