BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
According to school administrators, performance on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking and other state standardized testing is pointing to significant improvements in Bradford schools.
With several weeks until school grades are revealed, Superintendent Will Hartley is confident this will be the school district’s highest charting year.
More than tracking English and math performance by grade from year to year, the FAST test is administered three times per year, allowing student performance to be measured throughout the school year. Proficiency is tested at the beginning, middle and end of year. Grades three through 10 are tested in English language arts, and grades three through eight in math.
“I think it’s extremely helpful, and we’ve gotten really good at using that data to drive our instruction,” Hartley said. It’s impossible to predict results on the first assessments taken in August and September. Tests at each grade level vary greatly, and students are tested on standards they’ve never seen before. Even still, a handful manage to score Level 4 or 5, which is considered proficient or exemplary. Typically, the first test shows most students scoring below Level 3, which is below grade level.
“The one that I think is most helpful is PM2 at Christmas, because it gives you a good gage of what you’ve done in those few months from August until then. But it really, really drives what we do after that,” Hartley said.
So helpful is this way of doing things that the district has started developing mid-year exams that mirror the FAST tests for subjects that are not tested until the end of the year, such as algebra, geometry, biology and history.
“At first I thought that it was going to be too much, but I also think that the kids seeing it three times, I think they get a different comfort level with it, too, and there’s not so much anxiety on that last test, because they know what’s coming,” he said.
Standout results include third grade English where 68% of students scored at or above grade level, which was 16 percentage points higher than last year and 11 more than the state average. There were sizable jumps in other grades as well, such as 16 percentage points in the seventh grade, and sixth grade’s performance also topped the state average. And with 51% and 55% at or above grade level, the ninth and 10th grade English scores have never been higher. The only grade that couldn’t claim improvement in English or math was the fourth grade.
While there wasn’t as much improvement in math, the two standouts were third grade which grew by 7 percentage points and sixth grade, which was 12 percentage points above last year.
Lawtey Elementary School had the highest English performance in the fifth and sixth grades, and its fourth graders tied with Brooker Community School. Brooker third graders were top in English with 90% at or above grade level by year’s end. They were lowest in third and fourth grade math, however. Again, the highest percentages in math for grades three through sixth were at Lawtey.
Fifth and eighth graders are also tested at the end of the year in science. Overall, 58% of fifth graders districtwide scored at or above grade level, which was higher than the state average. Lawtey had the highest result at 69%. Eighth graders at Bradford Middle School were at 39%.
As for the end-of-course exams, BMS tied the state average with 60% at or above grade level in algebra. The Bradford High School percentage was 44%. BHS’s geometry result was 61% which was 6 percentage points higher than the state average. Biology results were 64% at or above grade level, 53% for civics and 46% for U.S. history.
The scores from the Department of Education website include the results of all students tested, but Hartley explained all those students will not be included in school grade calculations. Only results from students present for the second and third student counts are used to calculate school grades. When the other scores are eliminated, several categories show higher overall scores, which, according to Hartley, should help boost school grades. He mentioned sixth grade math as well as geometry and biology.
BHS Principal Chris Coffey has already highlighted performance in these and other categories. On three end-of-course exams, biology, algebra 1 and geometry, the scores were the highest in school history and they had some of the highest growth rates in the state — third in the state for algebra and second for geometry. The ninth and 10th grade English scores were also the best in the school’s history, according to Coffey.
While awaiting the annual report card, Hartley said the district is using data from this past year’s testing to amend its subject pacing guides. They are looking at successes in other districts and investigating what is working for them. The superintendent said other districts are seeing Bradford’s achievements and reaching out for advice as well. Hartley said collaboration is leading to growth everywhere.
