Florida mid-year FAST gains reported in Lee County, statewide data, and duval coverage
Overview
State education officials on Feb. 11 released mid-year progress monitoring results for the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), reporting notable gains in English language arts and mathematics since the start of the school year. The Florida Department of Education highlighted statewide improvements and urged continued collaboration among teachers, parents and schools to sustain progress through the end of the year.
Statewide results and official statement
the Florida Department of Education, 49% of students are performing at or above grade level on the FAST English Language Arts progress monitoring — a 10 percentage-point increase from the beginning of the school year and a 4-point increase compared with the same time last year. In mathematics, 34% of students are performing at or above grade level, an 18-point increase since the start of the school year and a 3-point gain year over year.
The department reported that more than 50, 000 additional students are now at or above grade level in English language arts compared with last year, and nearly 20, 000 more students are at or above grade level in mathematics. The agency attributed the gains to classroom instruction and the state’s progress monitoring approach.
“Mid-year progress monitoring results show that Florida’s students are continuing to succeed. I commend the hard work of students across our state and the dedication of teachers whose classroom instruction is pivotal to these gains, ” said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. He also noted the state’s transition away from high-stakes testing toward a progress monitoring system implemented under current state leadership, which officials say is delivering improved outcomes.
Local district report: Lee County
Local reporting from Lee County officials corroborated the statewide trend with district-level gains between the first and second progress monitoring windows. Business Intelligence Director Phillip Savage told district audiences that the School District of Lee County recorded internal increases in student performance, including an 8 percentage-point rise in the share of students achieving a level 3 or higher in ELA between the first monitoring (August/September) and the second (December/January).
Savage cited targeted strategies that address early foundational skills and root causes of underperformance. “It’s simple, solve the problem at the root, so students enter the testing years to succeed, ” he said, describing interventions focused on early literacy and math foundations. He added that every grade level is outperforming its historical performance at the same point in the year and highlighted an increase in math proficiency for early learners, with some gains widening the gap between district and state results.
District leaders also emphasized support for the lowest-performing students. Savage noted that the bottom 25% of students remain a priority, with school-based teams using custom tools to identify at-risk learners and pivot instruction when progress stalls. “This group has been a top priority for school-based teams, ” he said. To expand capacity, the district is augmenting foundational skills courses and algebra support to provide additional instructional time and focused interventions.
Coverage and data gaps
Local outlets covered the releases and district briefings, but not all counties provided contemporaneous district-specific figures in the materials reviewed. For example, while state data were detailed in the Department of Education release and Lee County provided a district update, specific mid-year FAST numbers for other large districts — including duval County — were not included in the released summaries. Reporters and district officials noted that interpretation of mid-year progress monitoring should consider local context, targeted interventions and the timing of data collection.
Implications and next steps
State and district leaders framed the mid-year gains as evidence that progress monitoring and targeted classroom instruction can accelerate students toward grade-level benchmarks. Officials urged continued partnerships among teachers, families and school teams to sustain momentum into end-of-year assessments and emphasized the importance of focused intervention for students who remain off track.
The Department of Education released the mid-year summary alongside additional state education items and encouraged stakeholders to review the commissioner’s message on the progress monitoring results for further context and guidance.
