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Manatee County reports drop in third-grade retentions after summer reading camp and FAST summer testing
Summary
The district says summer reading camp plus the summer administration of the FAST assessment reduced third-grade retentions to about 385 students (roughly 11%), down from about 16% at the end of the school year. District leaders credited explicit phonics instruction, endorsed teachers and daily FAST‑style practice.
The School District of Manatee County reported on Aug. 26 that summer reading programs and a summer administration of the FAST reading assessment reduced the districtthird‑grade retention rate to roughly 385 students, about 11% of third graders, down from approximately 16% at the end of the school year.
District elementary ELA leaders told the school board that the key change this summer was administering FAST (Florida’s progress-monitoring assessment) in July so the district could compare May and summer results on the same test. Allison Nichols, an elementary curriculum specialist who helped lead summer reading camp, said that apples‑to‑apples comparison made the program’s impact visible.
“Now we actually had apples to apples comparison from May at the end of the school year to the same test being taken again at the end of summer,” Nichols said during the board meeting. “With that, we saw great success and were able to reduce our retentions down to about 385.”
Program details: the summer reading camp ran 21 days and provided roughly five hours of daily reading instruction, including two explicit, systematic phonics lessons per day, daily repeated‑reading fluency work, daily writing in response to reading and practice with FAST‑style questions. Teachers assigned to the summer camps were reading‑endorsed or reading‑certified and were recommended by principals, district staff said.
Participation and results: district staff reported that 366 students who were identified for retention attended summer reading camp. Of those attendees, 46% were promoted to fourth grade after summer assessments or alternative good‑cause measures. The district said 33 students met good‑cause promotion via the STAR assessment during the summer, and 140 students met FAST level 2 or higher during the final week of camp.
Funding and administration: district staff said the program is supported by the district reading plan that describes how state reading funds (previously separate categorical funding) will be used; those funds now flow through the district’s base student allocation (BSA) but are carved out and tracked by the district for reading initiatives. District staff said schools also do outreach — letters, phone calls and transportation when needed — to invite families of retained students to attend summer reading camp.
Broader early‑literacy work: the district said it is expanding year‑round supports, including literacy coaches in elementary schools, a k‑2 phonics initiative (UFLI) with daily 30‑minute phonics blocks, targeted tutoring for grades 3–5 through a Florida tutoring vendor and plans for an early literacy summit Oct. 25 that will include a keynote from phonics researcher Wiley Blevins.
Why this matters: Florida law includes strong promotion standards for third grade; lowering retention rates through instruction and assessment is a major objective for district early‑literacy strategy and affects promotion, classroom placement and supports for students entering fourth grade.
District leaders said the summer results will be used to guide instruction and monitoring in the 2025–26 school year.
