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Students' Scores Outdo Peers

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By RONNIE BLAIR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 28, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Pasco County students continue to perform better in reading and mathematics than most of their peers across the nation, according to Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results announced Thursday.

Each year, a portion of the FCAT for third- through 10th-grade students includes a norm-referenced test used to measure how Florida students compare with other students in the country.

Pasco students scored above the national norm for every grade in reading and math, according to data released by the Florida Department of Education.

Pasco students scored at least 9 percentage points and as much as 24 percentage points above the national norm, depending on the grade and the subject.

Florida students, in general, also scored better than the national average for every grade in reading and math.

Fifth-graders in Pasco were the best on the math exam. As a group, they scored at the 74th percentile, meaning that they performed as well or better than 74 percent of fifth-graders nationwide.

The fifth-graders also led the way in reading, scoring at the 73rd percentile.

The Pasco fifth-graders are reflective of Florida as a whole, because statewide the fifth-grade scores also were the highest, coming in at the 73rd percentile in reading and the 77th percentile in math.

Third-graders had the lowest scores in Pasco, performing at the 59th percentile in both reading and math. Third-graders statewide were at the 60th percentile in reading and the 63rd percentile in math.
Reading results for other grades in Pasco were: fourth grade, 69th percentile; sixth grade, 65th percentile; seventh grade, 70th percentile; eighth grade, 67th percentile; ninth grade, 63rd percentile; and 10th grade, 69th percentile.
Math results for other grades in Pasco were: fourth grade, 69th percentile; sixth grade, 70th percentile; seventh grade, 71st percentile; eighth grade, 72nd percentile; ninth grade, 70th percentile; and 10th grade, 60th percentile.

Some of those results are up and some down from last year, depending on the grade and subject. For example, Pasco 10th-graders jumped 10 percentage points in reading from 2007, when they scored at the 59th percentile.

Third-graders were at the 67th percentile in math last year, eight percentage points higher than this year's third-graders.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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