[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6292359,"mediaKeyId","2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8","parentId",2526467,"title","Lawmakers press DOE on FAST implementation, vendor ownership, duplicate local tests and teacher capacity","audioSeconds",7064,"startMs",3639000,"endMs",10703000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8&start=3639&end=10703","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8/thumbnail_3639000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6292359/Florida/Lawmakers-press-DOE-on-FAST-implementation-vendor-ownership-duplicate-local-tests-and-teacher-capacity","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6292359-10f16ae26dc880b07cc158e908c3d3c9/orig.mp4?Expires=1770946474&Signature=acPSrPHORR0J80i49taz4FDmhamKfvQbZL55kQdnGCPRgPtEPd9W6f2Sjl3bFZ3aQCsAnVMsJ-Cg7vpsJnfnuAX1VEMDpACj-4X16oQKGPi0LsBueUDZn3Ht0Nl~6iG4QH0g030eIyjWI1JbWR9ZnVoiTdeXH5GrbNJBpmHrYi8wK6jFPuNksYQR0ATewH-cxz5vcGX6ParuIE9aU6TuBZCfiDeYN7qq9CyoVP4PyG~9av2ud189Hba12zPIGcJMv5jVHUE1jrEevW3CICfVZgaZQ4rhJOXOlLfEAHWOSew36PlVvTgHdptrcoIEWs05tLoKyj4woDhOsvcXKsWv2Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Florida Legislature","date","2025-03-06T00:00:00Z","article","Committee members raised implementation questions about FAST and broader district practices during a May 20 Student Academic Success Subcommittee hearing, focusing on vendor procurement, duplicate local tools, teacher capacity and data access.

Procurement and ownership: Deputy Commissioner Juan Copa told legislators that the department competitively procured the statewide FAST platform and identified the vendor as Cambium Assessment Incorporated (CAI). Copa said the state “does own the items” because the department develops test items; he did not provide contract dollar figures at the hearing and agreed to follow up with procurement and cost information.

Local district tools and duplicative testing: Several members said some districts continue to use local progress‑monitoring products (for example, iReady in Miami‑Dade) alongside FAST. Copa and Chancellor Paul Burns said districts are permitted to use local tools in addition to the statewide system but urged districts to weigh duplication and efficiency. Burns said the statewide tool covers the full breadth of state standards and can identify students who need further drilldowns; local vendors can be useful for targeted practice but district leaders should be strategic about testing burdens.

Testing burden and screen time: Representatives told the committee they hear concerns from teachers and parents about student and teacher stress and screen time. Chair McFarland defended the FAST design as intended to reduce end‑of‑year stakes by providing interim checkups, noting that PM1 and PM2 are “freebies” without statewide stakes, and that the point is to give teachers actionable data during the year rather than waiting until summer.

Data access, parent reporting and languages: Copa pointed to the public portal (knowyourschoolsfl.org) for state, district and school report cards. Committee members asked whether parent reports are available in home languages; department officials confirmed parent reports are available in Spanish and Haitian Creole and said additional home‑based resources would be available to families. The department also said it is developing a math resource portal and recorded professional‑learning videos for teachers; the portal was expected to go live by the end of summer 2025.

Mobile, private‑school and military students: Members asked how returning and highly mobile students are handled. Copa said about 4 percent of Florida public‑school students are returning from another school setting in a given year; school‑grade calculations count only full‑year enrolled students defined by presence at the October and February surveys. The department said military families’ students are treated the same operationally and that the department would provide additional data on military‑connected students on request. The committee also discussed NAEP sampling and private‑school exclusion from NAEP samples, which Copa said is a federal design limitation.

Teacher capacity and coaching: Legislators repeatedly raised whether teachers have time or coaching to implement Tier 2/Tier 3 interventions. Burns described supports the department provides (regional literacy directors, summer and regional professional learning, and plans to scale training videos and lesson exemplars) and said districts must be strategic when building schedules and staffing coaching roles. Several members suggested recruiting experienced or retired teachers into mentoring/coach roles; Burns said the department is pursuing multiple pathways, including “resiliency coaches,” and the state’s professional learning network.

Follow‑ups requested: committee members asked the department to supply (1) procurement details and contract costs for the FAST vendor, (2) district counts of students identified with substantial deficiencies, (3) district examples of individualized progress‑monitoring plans, and (4) analytics on public portal usage and language availability.

Ending: The committee did not vote on policy changes at the session; members were advised that the department will return with requested materials and that legislators could consider statutory amendments in this session’s bill cycle if they identify gaps.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Student Academic Success Subcommittee - March 6, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Committee members raised implementation questions about FAST and broader district practices during a May 20 Student Academic Success Subcommittee hearing, focusing on vendor procurement, duplicate local tools, teacher capacity and data access.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature FL, Florida","taxId",78546,"location","Florida","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6292369,"Florida reports gains under new progress-monitoring assessment system, but national NAEP results prompt questions",1106,169000,1275000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8&start=169&end=1275","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8/thumbnail_169000.jpg","/articles/6292369/Florida/Florida-reports-gains-under-new-progress-monitoring-assessment-system-but-national-NAEP-results-prompt-questions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6292369-fe161d9d713c5a39130c19db5e87694e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770946474&Signature=ihgyuepyH9YUwhAN3NfFnKF2YpRNOQcScQ3SQEDJw~DCd0Sm69DEdn5VIkNAQr71Bxb3pB-Oh1H-CtksJmK5W254QZwcB0xwGGvnL5l0Gex2pwzGh7IRDUci0EmrwgHlyQqhBpw0fNUqU7cUl3FfnEItWbAhj47hZXvo87WztjACPH8CrOYciV6e2Sc~6d7d8bjeqDkMIh0mNV6FfE5dgVu-feF~oBalVibw0ztesvXcjRFmp~7A0ltA1-IVr5po2ZtTJI1LUeE9sfW7AOOCafxslIgte-4Cgb3VnYyrB~gMbuu48sLT66Ev6TFLe0wy-6Ur-P7H6PduLp~pi~NX8g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Deputy Commissioner Juan Copa told the Student Academic Success Subcommittee on May 20 that Florida’s new progress‑monitoring assessment system — known as FAST — produced measurable gains in statewide student performance and provides immediate, in‑year data for teachers, parents and students.

Copa said the system, adopted after Senate Bill 1048 (2022), assesses students at three checkpoints (beginning, middle and end of year) and returns scores quickly. “Gone are the days of waiting 6 weeks to 2 months for results to come in,” Copa said, noting teachers now receive baseline, midyear and end‑of‑year information they can use to guide instruction.

The department reported substantial year‑over‑year increases in 2023–24. Copa told the committee that English language arts improved by about 20 percentage points during a school year in the most recent administration — from roughly 33 percent at the beginning of the year to 53 percent at the end — and mathematics rose from about 14 percent to 56 percent in the same period. Year‑to‑year end‑of‑year comparisons showed smaller increases (Copa cited a 4 percentage‑point end‑of‑year increase in ELA and roughly a 3 percentage‑point increase in math comparing 2022–23 to 2023–24).

Copa described other changes tied to the progress‑monitoring system: statewide end‑of‑course (EOC) assessments were redesigned for immediate scoring in 2023–24 so high schools no longer needed to wait weeks for EOC results to finalize grades, and progress monitoring was added for VPK and grades K–2 to provide a common early‑grade metric across the state. He said VPK readiness at the end of the program was roughly 70 percent this year (up from 69 percent in the baseline year), and cautioned that comparisons with kindergarten readiness measures can differ because the populations are not identical (some VPK participants attend private kindergarten and some public‑school kindergarten students never attended VPK).

Committee members pressed the department about how the FAST results relate to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Copa and members noted that Florida ranked near the bottom in grade‑8 NAEP reading and math in the latest NAEP release, but Copa cautioned against treating NAEP and FAST as directly comparable: NAEP samples do not include private‑school students (federal law does not require private‑school participation), is administered in January–March and is not aligned to individual states’ content standards. He said NAEP is useful for national comparisons but that FAST is designed to measure Florida standards and to produce actionable information during the school year.

Committee members asked operational questions about the FAST platform. Copa said the department competitively procured the current vendor, Cambium Assessment Incorporated (CAI), and that the state owns test items developed for the system. He did not provide a contract dollar amount during the hearing and told members the department would follow up with procurement and cost details upon request.

Where to find results: Copa pointed committee members to the department’s public portal, knowyourschoolsfl.org, for state, district and school‑level data and said more advanced downloads and reports are available to districts and researchers.

Why it matters: FAST changes the timing and frequency of statewide assessments and the immediacy of results. That has implications for how teachers plan instruction, for parent reporting and for policy discussions about interpreting state versus national measures.

What the hearing did not decide: The committee did not take votes or adopt policy in the session; members requested follow‑up information on vendor costs, counts of students identified with substantial deficiencies and disaggregated subgroup data.

Ending note: Department officials said FAST is still early in its statewide rollout (this was the second full year of administration) and that the department will provide additional data and procurement details to the subcommittee on request.","Deputy Commissioner Juan Copa told the Student Academic Success Subcommittee on May 20 that Florida’s new progress‑monitoring assessment system — known as FAST — produced measurable gains in statewide student performance and provides immediate, in‑year data for teachers, parents and students.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6292363,"Florida education officials outline tiered interventions, parental notices and dyslexia supports",1795,5663000,7458000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8&start=5663&end=7458","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2526467-6111fa2400a0749cbbdfc895eee28aa8/thumbnail_5663000.jpg","/articles/6292363/Florida/Florida-education-officials-outline-tiered-interventions-parental-notices-and-dyslexia-supports","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6292363-3a6a9d8410bfe51c5e7cb1b500e7cf93/orig.mp4?Expires=1770946474&Signature=UHa84pcvU9fncoIIDvrWps5kEwX7TBW8RLhohg1YxsUoHBNnRNZ07JeYB-f2-T0Nlu9eG4Mi2YqGq5yMLaEEZ-klopPUyvlBFRAgxpJtzxXkP5tjScJYmZ9YAp2ER7tgl~VTVp~YrrZjHt8JXT6dkMcsP3mAJ7TnON~r0b-vb7T5G-M0pq9~dc~hp21r2SlEVytWW7VEWYE6JvNdUflViS9N6K7MkE9DiMU374wjEo4GImpUL1jmis-~i1UIY27ZnQWgnMNonlYAQ2aXO7mwzv2sJrzrx1IGsfDuhqGtNdOjGYkmf9AKnRSOiYttz25yAxobcUwBLHfxkE5Dh48ChQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chancellor Paul Burns told the Student Academic Success Subcommittee that Florida’s approach to helping students who are not meeting grade‑level standards centers on a three‑tier model of instruction and legally required interventions and family notifications.

Burns said the state frames instruction as tiered rather than students: “we don’t tier students, we tier instruction,” he told the committee. Under the model, Tier 1 is high‑quality, on‑grade‑level core instruction for all students; Tier 2 is targeted, small‑group supplemental instruction; and Tier 3 is intensive, frequently one‑on‑one or very small‑group instruction for students with substantial gaps.

State law and State Board of Education rules require targeted action when a student is identified with a substantial deficiency. The department outlined the principal legal points:

- Reading: districts must identify and provide interventions for students in VPK through grade 3 who meet the rule’s criteria for a substantial deficiency (the department cited percentile cutoffs in the rule and said kindergarten through grade 3 identification varies by grade and administration window). Schools must notify parents, provide an individualized progress‑monitoring plan within 45 days of FAST results, and send monthly written progress updates. Tier 3 reading instruction must be delivered by staff with a reading endorsement, certification, or an approved micro‑credential.

- Mathematics: students in VPK through grade 4 identified with a substantial deficiency or characteristics of dyscalculia must receive systematic, explicit math interventions in addition to Tier 1 instruction. Parents must be notified in writing, receive descriptions of services and planned interventions, and be given monthly written progress updates.

Burns and his team emphasized that districts use multiple data sources — not a single test score — when placing students into tiers and when deciding whether to continue or end interventions. He said the individualized progress‑monitoring plan must list the student‑specific deficiency, goals and benchmarks, the evidence‑based instruction to be used (grounded in the science of reading for literacy plans), strategies and home resources, and expected duration. He told members the plan must be developed within 45 days after FAST results are available.

The department also flagged supports for students with characteristics of dyslexia or dyscalculia. Schools must offer screening and, where appropriate, individualized plans; those students may also be served through an IEP when applicable. Burns said the department offers professional learning, regional literacy directors and a summer literacy institute to help districts implement interventions and to coach school leaders.

Why it matters: the tiered framework and statutory parental‑notification rules determine which students receive extra instruction and how districts must document and communicate progress. Committee members asked for district‑level counts and samples of plans and the department agreed to provide follow‑up materials.

Ending: Burns said the department is developing a mathematics resource portal and additional home‑based materials for parents; the portal was expected to go live by the end of summer 2025.","Chancellor Paul Burns and department staff described the state's tiered instruction model (Tier 1 core instruction; Tier 2 supplemental; Tier 3 intensive) and legal requirements for interventions, parental notification and individualized progress‑monitoring plans for students with substantial deficiencies in reading (K–3) and math (K–4).","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Lawmakers press DOE on FAST implementation, vendor ownership, duplicate local tests and teacher capacity

Florida reports gains under new progress-monitoring assessment system, but national NAEP results prompt questions

Florida education officials outline tiered interventions, parental notices and dyslexia supports