Some Sarasota students outpace state

Six days after the State Board of Education gathered for an emergency meeting to discuss abysmal scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, data was released showing a larger ratio of Sarasota County students scored above average than the state.

For the writing portion of the exam, which was given to students in grade three through 10, more than 85% of students in grades four, eight and 10 scored more than a 3.0 or higher than the state average. The board of education considers scores greater than 3.0 to be proficient.

On the reading part of the exam, which was the main concern prompting outcry about what some consider stricter scoring methods and others call failure of the education system, 64% of district ninth graders and 61% of tenth graders scored greater than 3.0. Both numbers are more than 10 points higher than the state average.

The 3.0 threshold is the result of education officials recently lowering the proficient level from 4.0.

Contact Alex Mahadevan at [email protected].