by Bethany Blankley
Florida’s highest-ever 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress rankings indicate that the state’s students are “well ahead of their peers, especially with younger and educationally at-risk students who were harmed the most from distance learning in other states,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said when announcing the ranking.
“We insisted on keeping schools open and guaranteed in-person learning in 2020 because we knew there would be widespread harm to our students if students were locked out,” he said, adding that the results “once again prove that we made the right decision.”
Overall, Florida’s fourth-graders ranked third nationwide in reading in the average scale score, moving up from sixth in 2019 and ahead of students in New Jersey, Utah, and Colorado.
Among the most populated states, Florida fourth-graders were the highest performing in reading. Pennsylvania ranked 9th, California 32nd, Texas 33rd, and New York 36th.
Overall, Florida fourth-graders ranked fourth in math nationwide in average scale score. Of the most populated states, they ranked first, ahead of Texas (14), Pennsylvania (17), California (38), and New York (46).
Eighth-graders ranked 21st nationwide in reading in the average scale score, up from 22nd in 2019. Among the most populated states, these Florida students also outperformed 26th-ranking Pennsylvania, 29th-ranking California and 41st-ranking Texas.
Overall, Florida eighth-graders ranked 32nd nationwide in their average scale score, up from 35th in 2019 – the highest they’ve ever ranked in this category.
But Florida stands out among subgroups whose scores indicate achievement gaps are closing.
According to the data, Florida is in the top five for average scale scores of Hispanic students across all grades and subjects. Fourth-grade Hispanic students rank first in reading nationwide – and have since 2013, according to the data. Fourth-grade Hispanics rank second in math, as they did in 2019.
Eighth-grade Hispanic students ranked first among their peers in reading, up from second in 2019, and fourth in math, up from fifth in 2019.
Florida students with disabilities also rank in the top 5 for average scale scores across all grades and subjects, according to the data. Among them, fourth-graders ranked first in reading, up from second in 2019. They also ranked first in math for the third time in a row. Eighth-graders in this category ranked second among their peers, as they did in 2019, and fourth in math, unchanged since 2017.
Black Florida students also rank in the top 10 for average scale scores across all grades and subjects, according to the data. Black fourth-graders ranked third in reading, up from fourth in 2019. They ranked second in math, the same as they did in 2019. Black eighth-graders ranked fourth in reading, up from sixth in 2019. They ranked eighth in math, up from 17th in 2019.
Students on free/reduced lunch also ranked in the top 10 for average scale scores in three of four tests. Among fourth-graders, they ranked first in reading, as they did in 2019 and first in math for the third time in a row. Eighth-graders ranked sixth, down from fifth in 2019 and 17th in Math, up from 25th in 2019.
“Florida boasts the narrowest achievement gap between students with disabilities and students without disabilities in all grades and subjects,” the governor’s office notes.
Florida’s achievement gap between Hispanic and Caucasian students is also the narrowest nationwide in Grade 8 Reading, whereas all of Florida’s subgroups significantly outperformed their national peers in Grade 4 Reading.
Among Florida’s Grade 4 subgroups average scale scores, Hispanic students’ scores increased by 1 point; Asian/Pacific Islanders by 4 points; students with disabilities by 3 points; English language learners’ by 3 points.
Among these subgroups, Black students ranked third nationally, up from fourth in 2019. Hispanic students maintained their top rank. Caucasian students ranked fourth nationally, up from ninth in 2019. Free/reduced lunch students maintained their top ranking from 2019. Students with disabilities also ranked first, up from second in 2019.
Among Florida fourth-grade subgroups, Caucasian, black, and Hispanic students ranked second nationwide for Math. Free/reduced lunch students and students with disabilities each ranked first nationwide for the third time in a row.
Among florida Eighth-grade subgroups, Black students ranked fourth nationally, up from sixth in 2019 in the Reading average scale score. Hispanic students ranked first nationally, up from second in 2019. Students with disabilities maintained their second-place ranking.
Among Florida’s eighth-grade subgroups in the Math average scale score, Black students ranked eighth nationally, up from 17th in 2019. Hispanic students ranked fourth, up from fifth in 2019. Free/reduced lunch students ranked 27th, up from 25th in 2019. Students with disabilities maintained their fourth-place ranking.
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Bethany Blankley is a contributor to The Center Square.
