Florida students above national average

Depending on the grade and subject, the average Florida student is doing as well as 60 to 74 percent of his or her peers nationwide, according to test results released this morning by the state Department of Education.

The results are from the norm-referenced test that is given to students every year as part of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The test allows Florida to gauge how well its students stack up nationally in math and reading.

The results vary grade by grade and year by year. Fourth-graders, for example, scored at the 71st percentile this year in math, down from the 77th percentile last year. Meanwhile, tenth graders moved from the 60th to the 71st percentile in reading.

Overall, in math, Florida's percentile ranking fell in five grades (third, fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth), rose in two (fifth and sixth) and stayed the same in one (eighth). In reading, Florida's ranking went up in four grades (fourth, seventh, eighth and tenth) and down in four (third, fifth, sixth and ninth.)

To view results, see the Department of Education web site here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Comments

[Sherman Dorn]

The SAT-10 results are not really national comparisons: they're comparisons to the group that the testing company had available when norms were established ... in 2002. I think only NAEP can truly claim to have same-year national comparisons. When you write up the story for tomorrow, can you make sure to include that?