Students do well overall on year-end state tests

Local public school students outperformed the state average in writing in fourth through 10th grades, according to recently released Florida state testing results.

Monroe County School District Superintendent Theresa Axford said the district’s emphasis on Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) strategies, which focus on writing, propelled the students. This is the first time in several years that writing has been considered as a separate score, according to a school district news release.

“These successes are due to the hard work of students, the dedication of teachers and the unwavering support of the community,” Axford said. “These results not only reflect the district’s focus on high-quality education but also its ongoing efforts to provide an environment where every student can excel.”

Overall, Monroe County students increased their performance over last year, Axford said. They made gains in proficiency from year 2023 to year 2024. Significant gains were seen in third grade English language arts (ELA).

“I am very proud of the work teachers did with our third-graders,” Axford said. “Their gain over fiscal year 2023 was 7% and they gained 5% in math. The most powerful scores in my estimation were in the performance of the fourth grade in the new writing test. They were 76% proficient. I am encouraged by this performance, and I believe that our excellent teachers and the use of AVID strategies, which include much writing, contributed to this success.”

In English language arts, Monroe students in grades 3-10 showed an increase of 18% for students achieving Level 3 or above.

This trend is evident across all grade levels, including improvement of 35% for third grade students, outperforming the state’s improvement by 4% while grades 4 and 5 demonstrated a significant increase of 26% and 22%, respectively, and grades 6-10 showed consistent gains with improvements ranging between 10% and 15%.

The average gain over grades 4-10 in ELA is 3.75% and in math for grades 3-7 is 3.4%. Grades 3 and 4 notably improved by 52% higher scores on the tests. Grade 8 students saw a decrease in math test performance.

Mathematics proficiency year-over-year showed a 4% increase in scores from 2023 to 2024, and Monroe’s fifth-graders stood out with a 10% increase over the average fifth-grader statewide and a 6% above the average state improvement. However, 6th through 8th grade students showed a slight decrease of 2% from last year in mathematics scores. In geometry, students excelled, achieving 58% proficiency, which exceeded the state average by 5%.

“Our concerns going forward are to examine practices in grade 8 math, algebra 1 and geometry to help students be more successful in these areas,” Axford said. “It is interesting to note that we are having difficulty recruiting and retaining math and science teachers, and these are the areas that demonstrate a need to do work. Having the same strong teachers year after year improves student performance.”

Achievement levels range from 1-5. Achievement Level 3 indicates “on grade level” across all assessments, according to flfast.org.

Mathematics data also reflected 37% learning gains of students in grades 3-8. Grades 3 and 4 notably improved by 52% higher scores on the tests.

In science education, fifth grade students achieving Level 3 or above increased from 44% in 2023 to 50% in 2024, an improvement of 6% which exceeded the state increase by 4%. In biology, however, Monroe students showed a decrease from 66% to 62% in the end of course exam.

In social studies assessments, 66% of civics students scored at or above level 3, while in U.S. history, 72% of students scored at that level, which increased by 3%, and outperformed the state percentage of proficient students by 5%.

Florida Assessment of Student Thinking tests are comprised of three progress monitoring windows, the first of which occurs at the beginning of the school year and provides teachers with baseline scores that allow them to track students’ progress. The second test is given mid-school year, which allows teachers to compare their students’ results with the baseline scores. Lastly, the final test at the end of the school year aims to measure student mastery of the grade-level content standards.

“My thoughts on testing are certainly layered with lots of considerations,” Axford noted. “First, everyone needs to understand that our teachers and students have been dealing with a completely different testing format. The state is using Computer Adaptive Testing, referred to as CAT testing, to assess standards achievement. The new development in CAT testing is that a student takes the test item and if he or she answers the item correctly, the next item will be at a higher level of difficulty. This model allows students to be delivered items that fit their level of knowledge in the particular area. Testing of this type has a new type of intensity.

“I can remember my experience in college classes that prepared teachers to develop tests and we were taught quite a different philosophy as relates to testing. For instance, throughout a test, you were supposed to have a variety of difficulty. Some questions were easier than others and having an easier question allowed the student to build confidence to do the next one, which perhaps was harder. So, you can see that a test that always sends you to a deeper level may require a different level of energy and attention.

“To prepare students for this type of testing, we reviewed and explained how CAT testing works, and we gave weekly assessments in the same format as the CAT test. We found this year that giving all the tests in May, which was required by the state was very hectic and that students were distracted by end of year activities and other things that come with the close of school. We plan to give tests earlier in May next year to avoid distractions and to keep students’ attention at a high level. I congratulate our students and teachers for their great work this year and look forward to even greater gains next year.”