How Local Third-Graders Did on the FCAT

More than half of Pinellas County's third-graders read at or above grade level – at 56 percent. They were just one percentage point behind Florida third-graders as a whole, according to FCAT results released Friday.

Only 48 percent of the district's third-graders scored at or above grade level on the math portion of the FCAT, lagging 10 points behind their peers across the state.

A pair of North St. Pete schools pulled ahead of the county as a whole in reading, with Shore Acres and North Shore both showing 58 percent of third-graders reading at or above grade level.

Also, Woodlawn Elementary was among more than a dozen schools with double digit gains in reading, with a 16 percent increase.

Here is a look at the percentage of third-graders scoring at or above grade level in reading and math in some of St. Petersburg's elementary schools:

• Shore Acres Elementary School: 58 percent reading, 64 percent math;
  
• North Shore Elementary School: 58 percent reading, 41 percent math;
  
• Woodlawn Elementary School: 38 percent reading, 25 percent math;

• Sexton Elementary School: 61 percent reading, 53 percent math.

See the attached pdf files and look under Pinellas to see scores for other St. Petersburg schools and the rest of the state.

Scoring on the third-grade FCAT is numbered from 1 to 5, with "3" the minimum for students to be considered at grade level. Students who score "1" are at risk of being held back.

In Pinellas schools:

• 17 percent scored a "1" in reading;
• 24 percent scored a "1" in math.

Florida’s passing rates have dropped after exams were changed and a more rigorous scoring system implemented.

Teacher evaluations are partially based on students’ FCAT scores.

School letter grades are set to be released in July,

Students’ individual FCAT results will be distributed to parents by schools later.

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