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MIAMI-DADE 3RD GRADERS MAKE UNPRECEDENTED FCAT GAINS MIAMI – The percentage of 3rd graders in Miami-Dade County Public Schools who can read and do math jumped sharply in 2006, pushed higher for a second straight year by results from the District’s School Improvement Zone, data released Monday by the Florida Department of Education shows. The percentage of 3rd graders reading at grade level rose to 71 percent – a 10-percentage point increase over last year. In terms of students, one more 3rd grader in every 10 can read as well as is expected in that grade. In the 20 elementary schools in the School Improvement Zone, the percentage of students reading at grade level climbed by 17 percentage points. As a result, more than half of the Zone’s 3rd graders – 55 percent – now read at grade level. By comparison, about a third of Zone 3rd graders could read that well when the District launched the initiative in 2004. Identified based on chronic poor performance, Zone schools have longer school days and schools years and use a uniform, highly structured instructional program that emphasizes literacy. FCAT reading results are particularly important for 3rd graders, who need to score above the lowest FCAT level – Level 1 – to be promoted into 4th grade or receive a waiver of that state requirement. In 2006, only 18 percent of the District’s 3rd graders scored at Level 1 in reading, the first time that few than 20 percent of 3rd graders in Miami-Dade are at risk of being retained. In the Zone schools, fewer than a third of 3rd graders scored at Level 1, down from slightly more than half two years ago. The drop in students scoring at Level 1 in reading District-wide means that more than 2,000 more 3rd graders will be promoted into 4th grade for next school year. A portion of the FCAT also compares the performance of students in Florida to those nationally. Results from this part of the test showed that the District’s median reading score rose to 57, placing Miami-Dade’s median above the national median of 50. In math, the percentage of 3rd graders scoring at grade level rose to 69 percent, up by six percentage points over 2005. In the Zone schools, the percentage scoring at grade level rose by 10 points. ### 06-LJG/216 |
