Miami-Dade middle school students on the 'write' track, FCAT results show

MIAMI-DADE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ON THE 'WRITE' TRACK,
FCAT RESULTS SHOW

MIAMI – The percentage of 8th graders in Miami-Dade County Public Schools who can write an explanatory or persuasive essay well rose by eight points in 2006, results from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) released Thursday show.

Eighty-one percent of the District’s 26,755 8th graders who took the FCAT Writing+ test earlier this year scored at 3.5 and above on the essay section – the level the state defines as “meeting high standards,” which was raised in 2005. Statewide, students scoring 3.5 and above increased by 7 percent in 2006.

The growth in Miami-Dade 8th graders scoring at 4 and above was even greater – a 13-point gain over 2005. Two-thirds of the District’s 8th graders reached or surpassed that score in 2006. By comparison, the percentage of students scoring 4 and above statewide climbed by 10 percentage points. The essay section is scored on a six-point scale, and the state intends to move its “high standards” mark to 4 eventually.

For this year’s essay section, 8th graders either were asked to pick something in nature and explain why they liked it or to write to their principal advocating that all schoolwork be done in groups.

Students in grades 4, 8 and 10 took FCAT Writing+ in February. For the first time, the writing test included both the usual essay section and a multiple-choice section measuring students’ skills and knowledge around focus, organization, support and conventions of writing.

The state issued whole-test scores that showed Miami-Dade 4th graders outperformed their peers statewide by three points, reaching a scale score of 299. The whole-test results are reported on a scale of 100 to 500.

Eighty percent of the District’s 25,870 4th graders scored 3.5 or better on the essay section, which matched the 2005 result and continued to top the statewide result of 76 percent. The percentage of Miami-Dade 4th graders scoring 4 and above rose to 67 percent – a four-point increase – compared to 63 percent statewide.

At 10th grade, results locally and across Florida declined. Seventy-four percent of Miami-Dade’s 27,595 sophomores scored 3.5 or better, compared to 78 percent statewide.

The District has begun to analyze the results school-by-school for its 367 schools. These results, however, are not the writing scores used to calculate each school’s accountability grades, which are expected to be released in June. For school accountability grades, the results for limited-English proficient (LEP) students and exceptional student education (ESE) students are not included in part of the writing calculation. Given that Miami-Dade has the largest enrollments of LEP and ESE students in the state, the writing results included in the school accountability grades are likely to be even more favorable for local schools.

The District’s initial review of results for the 39 schools in the School Improvement Zone showed that all 11 middle schools had higher percentages of 8th graders scoring at 3.5 and above in 2006. Among the 18 Zone elementary schools enrolling 4th graders, nine recorded better results on the essay section and one maintained its percentage scoring 3.5 or better. Like the District, seven of the eight Zone high schools saw drops in essay writing results. The exception was Miami Edison Senior High School, which saw a slight increase in students scoring 3.5 and above.