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The Putnam County School District headquarters in Palatka
By Danielle J. Brown
Florida Phoenix
New results from Florida’s third grade reading exams in Putnam County and statewide aren’t good, showing that only about a quarter of kids tested in public schools could read proficiently, meaning they scored a 4 or 5 on the crucial exam.
Even by a more liberal analysis by the Department of Education — one that allows kids to pass the exam with the traditional score of at least a 3 — shows a worrisome picture: Just 53 percent of third graders could pass the 2022 reading exam, down from 54 percent the year before, according to statewide averages.
Here in Putnam County, 34% of students scored a level 3 or higher, compared to 41% in 2019.
Statewide, data shows some stagnation: The 2022 results are the same as the third grade reading results back in 2015, likely in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Putnam County School District Superintendent Rick Surrency said the pandemic significantly impacted young readers in Putnam.
“Much like the rest of the nation and state, our district is experiencing the effects of the pandemic on student learning,” Surrency said in a statement. “This data is for the cohort of third grade students who were in 1st grade in 2020, which is a significant year for foundational reading skills.”
Surrency said staff and students worked diligently to meet academic expectations during the last two years while experiencing the impacts of COVID-19.
“Every day matters for student learning,” Surrency said.
Patricia Levesque is executive director of Foundation for Florida’s Future, an education-focused non-profit founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Levesque said in a statement, “Teaching our children to read at grade level by grade 3 is the underpinning to every student’s pathway to lifelong success, and it is why the Grade 3 reading results decline is troubling.”
In Florida, the third grade reading exams are key, typically requiring third graders to earn a passing grade in order to move on to 4th grade.
The results are also crucial as students move through the school system. Reading becomes a foundational tool for the rest of a student’s school career in every subject after entering the fourth grade, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
A reading score of 3 is not ‘proficient’
Keep in mind that third grade reading scores of at least a 3 represent a passing score but it’s only a “satisfactory” effort. This means a student “may need additional support for the next grade/course,” according to the Department of Education.
Only scores of 4 are considered at least proficient, “likely to excel in the next grade/course.” And a score of 5 is considered mastery, meaning “highly likely to excel in the next grade/course.”
In the Florida Department of Education’s analysis, 19 percent of third graders were considered proficient on the 2022 reading exam with only 6 percent showed a mastery of the subject. Those two categories combined show about 25 percent of students were at least proficient or higher on the exam in 2022, down from 26 percent in 2021, based on statewide averages.
Of Florida’s 67 school districts and a handful of lab schools and other entities, the percent of proficient third grade readers in 2022 ranged from 51 percent to 4 percent.
The lab school connected to Florida State University had the highest figure for proficiency, according to department data, with 51 percent of 232 students earning a 4 or higher on the reading exam.
Of the standard 67 school districts, St. Johns showed the highest percentage of proficiency of reading on the state exam, with 41 percent of third graders tested earning a score of 4 or higher.
Meanwhile, in Jefferson County, a small rural school district, 48 students took the third grade reading exam. Only 4 percent were considered at least proficient, the data show.
Meanwhile, only 10 percent of third grade students in Gadsden County School District, also in North Florida, were considered at least proficient, out of 327 students tested. Adding in students scoring a 3, Gadsden’s overall passing rate on the reading exam was about 27 percent.
In Putnam, District leaders anticipated some decline in overall achievement based on progress monitoring data of 2nd grade students at the end of the 2021 school year, District spokeswoman Ashley McCool said in an email.
But the local school system said since the beginning of the 2022 school year, data show a trend in the right direction.
“When this school year began, the data showed that 29% of students were reading at a level to be successful on FSA for third grade,” McCool stated. “Current 2nd grade student data shows that 34% of students are reading at a level to be successful on FSA for the 22-23 school year.
“This is a trend in the right direction for improved achievement. It reflects the emphasis the district placed on using federal funds for additional staff who work closely with Kindergarten-2nd grade students and teachers to build strong foundational reading skills.”
The Hillsborough County School District had 17,256 third graders take the reading exam in 2022, and 23 percent of the students earned a 4 or 5, meaning they were at least proficient. That was lower than the statewide average of 25 percent proficiency.
Tanya Arja, communication staffer with the district, said in an email to the Phoenix:
“Nearly 1,000 more third grade students were tested this year compared to last year and many of these students learned from home during some or all of 2020-2021. With now 99% of third graders tested this year, we are now finally getting a complete picture of the impacts that disrupted and at-home learning caused.”
Moving to another testing system
This is the last year that Florida students will take the Florida Standards Assessments exams, which include the third grade reading exam. The state’s education system will transition to a new, and controversial, statewide testing system that will use what’s called “progress monitoring” throughout the year.
Come next academic year, 2022-23, there will be three exams throughout the school year. Two of them are considered diagnostic exams to see how students are progressing. The third exam is the end-of-year cumulative and comprehensive assessment for reading and math.
The new assessment is called Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST. Some school districts feel it’s too early to predict how the transition from the FSA to statewide progress monitoring will affect reading scores in the future.
“At this point, it is too early to predict the impact of the new assessments,” according to a Miami-Dade communication staffer Jaqueline Calzadilla. “Next year will be a baseline year. We have to keep in mind there is always an adjustment period when we transition to new standards and assessments.”
The Foundation for Florida’s Future believes that the new progress monitoring testing system will help identify students who need additional support before the final assessment, according to a Friday email.
Bob Schaeffer is the executive director of FairTest, which promotes “fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools,” among other goals.
He is skeptical, saying that the new system will “increase a focus on boosting test scores as the primary goal of education, because the end-of-the-year test is what will matter for students, teachers, schools and districts.”
“The first two waves of assessment will be used to get kids ready for the big test,” Schaeffer said.
“It’s unlikely to be an improvement of educational quality, and further turns schools into test prep centers — where the primary focus is on the limited content that that standardized tests can measure. It will further encourage you to focus on the tested material, particularly reading and in math, and further divert attention away from other important parts of learning…and it’s likely to encourage more test-specific practice — turning classrooms into test prep factories.”
As for the final year of the Florida Standards Assessments, Schaeffer concluded:
“Good riddance. Unfortunately the replacement is not likely to be any better.”
Putnam County objectives
Meanwhile, in the Putnam County School District, school officials have plans in place to try to increase reading skills and move the needle in the right direction.
McCool said some of the district’s strategies to close learning gaps include:
Newly adopted ELA curriculum implementation to meet Florida’s new BEST standards
Additional support for third grade teachers with district-wide learning communities to collaborate and share best practices
Additional summer learning opportunities for identified K-third grade students
Continued daily evidence-based reading interventions for students at every grade level
Laura France, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, said she is confident the district’s new resources and support for teachers will lead to better student outcomes.
“This emphasis, along with family and community support to improve attendance,” France said, “will be the key to third grade achievement and success.”
— Palatka Daily News staff contributed to this report.
— The Florida Phoenix, floridaphoenix.com, is a nonprofit news site that covers state government and politics. It is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. The articles on its website are free to read and free of advertising.