Sarasota Schools' Scores Drop On State Third-Grade English Exam

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — The number of Sarasota County Schools students who achieved a Level 3 score or higher on the annual third-grade Florida Standards Assessments English Language Arts exam dropped four percentage points this school year.

In the district, 66 percent of those who took the state test achieved a Level 3 or higher in the 2020-21 school year compared to 70 percent in the 2018-2019 school year, which was the last time the test was taken. State assessments were canceled in the spring of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was also a statewide drop of 4 percentage points for Level 3 or high scores. Throughout the state, 54 percent of third graders achieved a Level 3 or higher in the 2020-2021 school year compared to 58 percent in 2018-2019.

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The results reported are based on all students tested, including students with disabilities and English Language Learners (ELL), as well as retained third grade students, the district said.

“We owe our amazing teachers and school leaders a profound debt of gratitude for their perseverance and tenacity in helping our students learn at high levels, despite the unimaginable challenges and circumstances that this past school year presented,” Dr. Brennan Asplen, district superintendent, said. “Together, we look forward to dissecting and analyzing the achievement data to proactively plan and target every student’s unique learning needs with a continuous level of improvement for next year.”

Additional assessment outcomes in reading and math for grades 3 to 10 will be announced in late July, the district said. Test results are used by the state in their school grade calculation.