Students in Okaloosa County struggled with a tougher Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, if the first batch of results is any indication.
In a surprising turn, the percentage of passing scores for students in the fourth, eighth and 10th grades who took the writing exam fell below the state average, according to the scores released Friday morning by the Florida Department of Education.
Only students in fourth grade writing were able to improve on the district’s pass rate from last year. Eighth and 10th grade pass rates on the writing test dropped slightly.
Okaloosa did see an improvement in the number of third-graders who passed the FCAT reading, which determines whether or not they advance to the fourth grade.
More issues were evident in third grade math: 2 percent fewer students passed the test than last year.
“We know something has to be wrong,” Superintendent of Schools Mary Beth Jackson said. “We’re looking at our curriculum to see what happened.”
Jackson said it is too soon to speculate how one school had a nearly 30 percent pass rate increase and another had a nearly 20 percent decrease. District administrators were digging into the data Friday afternoon to identify trends. She said they also would turn to individual schools and teachers for answers.
“My job as a leader is when you see a problem, you fix it,” she said. “ … I’m not going to lay blame on anyone … We just have to figure out what we did.”
It is the second year students have taken the tougher version of the FCAT.
Last year, the Florida Board of Education dropped writing proficiency scores temporarily after only about one-third of the students in the state passed the test initially.
In spite of the higher rigor, results in neighboring Santa Rosa and Walton counties were close to previous years
Santa Rosa County students performed above the state average in all areas, and the school district was in the top 10 of the state’s 67 counties in most.
The reading and math results came after the district spent ample time helping students in those areas, according to Assistant Superintendent Bill Emerson.
Officials didn’t do any specific training for the writing test, but Emerson said the scores showed the effectiveness of teaching the common core standards.
“We had good gains,” Emerson said. “We’re really pleased with the results thus far.”
Walton County met or surpassed the state average in all areas except fourth grade writing. Still, students did improve the pass rate in fourth grade writing by 10 percent.
Superintendent Carlene Anderson said she also plans to turn to principals and teachers for insight about what might have happened with the writing exam.
“I value what they say,” she said.
Overall, Anderson said she wasn’t disappointed with the results.
“I think we’re on the right track,” she said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.
