Posted by Tanya Arja or Jennifer Holton on 6/29/2023 4:28:00 PM
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tanya Arja or Jennifer Holton
Hillsborough County Public Schools
Office of Communications
813-272-4060
Tampa, Fl. (June 29, 2023) – Hillsborough County Public Schools students demonstrated impressive achievements in newly-released statewide Algebra and Geometry assessment results outperforming the state average. In addition, HCPS students throughout the district showed improvement over the course of the school year in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math.
This was the baseline year of the FAST – Florida Assessment of Student Thinking – a statewide progress monitoring tool given to students three times a year, in Grades 3-10 in ELA and Grades 3-8 in Math. Between the first administration of the tests in the fall of 2022 (PM1) to the 3rd administration (PM3) in Spring 2023, HCPS students showed growth and understanding of the B.E.S.T. Standards – Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking.
The FAST Progress Monitoring assessments provided teachers, students, and parents with real-time, immediate, and actionable data at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to drive student improvement.
Key takeaways from the state assessments in HCPS include:
Students in grades 9-12 Algebra 1 outperformed the state average by 2 percentage points.
Overall, of all HCPS students taking Algebra 1, they outperformed the state average by 6 percentage points.
In Geometry, HCPS students in Grades 9-12 outperformed the state average by 1 percentage point.
Overall, in Geometry, students outperformed the state average by 1 percentage point.
Over the course of the year, for grades 3-8 in Math, HCPS students improved by 42 percentage points from PM1 to PM3, in line with the state average growth.
HCPS 8th graders outperformed the state average by 2 percentage points in Math.
From PM1 to PM3, in ELA for grades 3-10, HCPS students improved by 17 percentage points, which is also in line with the state average growth.
In ELA, our students stayed in line with the state average in 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th grades.
Year over year, students in 5th grade science improved by two percentage points.
In U.S. History, HCPS students outperformed the state by 3 percentage points.
Our district ranked #1 among comparable contiguous districts in Algebra and U.S. History.
HCPS students in every subgroup made significant increases from PM1 to PM3 in Math and ELA:
Black students increased performance throughout the year by:
14 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
33 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Hispanic students increased by:
15 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
39 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Students with Disabilities increased by:
12 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
29 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
Students from economically disadvantaged families increased performance throughout the year by:
15 percentage points in Grade 3-10 ELA
36 percentage points in Grade 3-8 Math
“This is our first year with the new progress monitoring assessments and we are extremely proud of the growth our students made throughout the course of the school year. The results indicate the tireless efforts of our teachers, administrators, school-based, and district staff to ensure our students are on track with their learning. We also appreciate our community partners and other stakeholders who stand with us to provide resources and support to ensure student success,” says Interim Superintendent Van Ayres.