Palm Beach County third-graders, seventh-graders and tenth-graders did better than last year’s classes on statewide exams designed to test their skills in reading and math.
The Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) exams replaced the grade-level Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) for the first time in 2023. This is the first year that students’ performance can be compared to previous years.
On the reading exams: 54% of this year’s third-graders scored at or above grade level compared to 48% in 2023. In seventh grade, 50% of students scored at or above grade level on the exams this year compared to 48% last year. Among tenth-graders, 54% of students scored at or above grade level. In 2023, just 50% of tenth-graders achieved that score.
On math exams: 56% of third-graders scored at or above grade level compared to 57% last year. Among seventh-graders, just 36% of students scored at or above grade level this year — the same percentage as last year. Tenth-graders weren’t tested in math.
“The growth we’ve seen in the 2023-2024 school year is a direct result of the hard work of our students and staff, as well as the strategies for improvement that we identified coming out of the first year of FAST testing,” Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Michael Burke said in a news release. “We look forward to continuing to see growth year after year.”
Often referred to as “high-stakes exams,” third-graders need passing FAST reading scores to move to fourth grade and tenth-grade students need passing reading scores in order to graduate.
While Palm Beach County students as a whole were mostly on par with statewide averages in reading, local students performed worse than the state averages on the math exams. And students from certain elementary, middle and high schools outperformed others on the standardized tests.
Here’s where students performed the best:
Palm Beach County’s highest scoring elementary schools
About 54% of third-graders in Palm Beach County scored at or above grade level on English/language arts exams. That’s almost at the statewide average of 55%.
In math, 56% of third-graders scored at or above grade level. The statewide average was 60%.
The schools with the highest rate of students who scored at or above grade level in English/language arts exams were Morikami Park (94%), Somerset Academy Boca East (90%), Western Academy Charter School and Waters Edge Elementary (both 88%), Marsh Pointe and Binks Forest Elementary (both 86%).
The schools with the lowest passing rates in English/language arts were West Riviera Elementary and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, both with 16%, and Barton Elementary (18%).
The schools with the highest rate of students who scored at or above grade level in math exams were Morkiami Park (99%), Equestrian Trails (93%), Waters Edge (90%), Blue Lake and Marsh Pointe elementary schools (both 89%).
The schools with the lowest passing rates in math were Glades Academy (24%), Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary (27%), and Freedom Shores Elementary (28%).
Palm Beach County’s highest scoring middle schools
About 50% of seventh-graders in Palm Beach County scored at or above grade level on English/language arts exams last year. The statewide average was also 50%.
In math, 36% of seventh-graders scored at or above grade level. The statewide average was 47%.
The schools with the highest rate of students who scored at or above grade level in English/language arts exams were Bak Middle School of the Arts (94%), North Grade K-8 (90%) and Addison Mizner School (86%).
The traditional schools with the lowest passing rates in English/language arts were Congress Middle (17%), Carver Middle (18%) and Tradewinds Middle School (21%).
The schools with the highest rate of students who scored at or above grade level in math exams were Bak Middle School of the Arts (96%), North Grade K-8 (94%), Western Academy Charter School (91%), Renaissance Charter School at West Palm Beach (87%) and Don Estridge High Tech Middle School (82%).
The schools with the lowest passing rates in math were Turning Points Academy (6%), Carver Middle (7%), Congress Middle (13%), and Howell L. Watkins Middle, Lake Worth Middle and Tradewinds Middle (all with 15%).
Palm Beach County’s highest scoring high schools
About 54% of tenth-graders in Palm Beach County scored at or above grade level on English/language arts exams. The statewide average was 53%.
Tenth-graders didn’t take FAST exams in math.
The traditional schools with the highest rate of students who scored at or above grade level in English/language arts exams were Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts (94%), Suncoast (89%) and West Boca High School (73%).
The traditional schools with the lowest passing rates in English/language arts were Lake Worth High (27%), Palm Beach Lakes High (33%) and Boynton Beach High (34%).
Eleven charter high schools scored lower than Lake Worth High’s passing rate, but those schools have tenth-grade classes of fewer than 100 students. Palm Beach Preparatory Charter Academy, a charter school with 124 tenth-grade students, had 9% of students score at or above grade level.
What’s considered a good score on Florida’s FAST tests?
Scores on the FAST exams range from level 1 to level 5.
For all assessments, level 3 indicates that a student is performing on par with their grade level. Five is the highest score.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Best Palm Beach County elementary, middle, high schools 2024 FAST scores
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