MANATEE DISTRICT THIRD GRADERS IMPROVE
FCAT RESULTS IN READING AND MATH

(Bradenton, FL - May 21, 2008) The percentage of Manatee District third graders scoring at or above grade level in reading and math increased this year, according to Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released today by the Florida Department of Education. FCAT scores are grouped in five different levels, from a low of Level 1 to a high of Level 5. Students scoring Level 3 or higher are considered to be performing at or above grade level, according to the Sunshine State Standards.

In reading, the percentage of Manatee District third graders scoring at Level 3 or above increased from 67% in 2007 to 71% in 2008; a gain of four percentage points. In math, the percentage of Manatee District third graders scoring at Level 3 or above increased from 69% in 2007 to 75% in 2008; a gain of six percentage points.

The third-grade results released today mark the third indication of improvement by Manatee District students based on FCAT results released this year.

On May 8, 2008, FCAT Writing results indicated Manatee District students increased their performance over the previous year in six of eight areas tested. On May 12, 2008, FCAT Retake results revealed Manatee District 12th graders topped the state average in both reading and math when it comes to scoring high enough to graduate from high school.

Breaking down the third-grade results to the individual school level, 22 district elementary schools made improvements in the percentage of students reading at grade level or above; while 21 district elementary schools made improvements in the percentage of students scoring at grade level or above in math.

PAL Academy Charter School registered the most remarkable increase in student performance, raising the percentage of students reading at Level 3 or above by 49%, and increasing the percentage of students testing Level 3 or above in math by 36%.

Other schools that recorded dramatic increases in reading this year include Wakeland (16% improvement), Ballard (14%), Palm View (14%) and Sea Breeze (14%). Schools showing the most gains in math include Sea Breeze (19%), Samoset (17%), Oneco (16%) and Stewart (16%).

In addition, the Florida Department of Education released third grade results for the Norm Referenced Test, which is used to compare state scores against a national norm group consisting of school district´s around the country. NRT scores range from the 1st percentile to the 99th percentile, with the 50th percentile being the average student score. According to the NRT results, Manatee District third graders scored a 60, which was one percentile lower than last year, but equal to the state score. In math, district third graders scored a 61, which was five percentage points lower than last year and two percentage points lower than the state score of 63.

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