Manatee County board reviews winter FAST ELA progress-monitoring results; officials cite midyear gains and target third grade

District staff presented winter progress-monitoring results for reading (FAST/STAR platforms) at the Feb. 11 School Board of Manatee County meeting, telling the board that the district showed midyear growth across most grade bands despite losing seven instructional days to a hurricane during the first semester.

The presentation, led by Chad Jensen with Evan McCarthy, director of assessment, accountability and research, explained that the district administers three progress-monitoring windows (fall, winter, spring) and uses STAR Early Literacy and STAR Reading in K–2 and Cambium-based FAST for grades 3–10. Jensen said the winter window is a snapshot of students’ midyear status: “This is middle of the year. It's not the end of the year,” and cautioned that PM2 results are intended to inform instruction for the second semester.

Board members were shown both within-year growth (PM1 to PM2) and year-to-year comparisons (PM2 last year vs. PM2 this year). Jensen and McCarthy reported substantial in-year gains in K–2 and said the district’s first graders showed a 23-point increase from PM1 to PM2, exceeding the state’s first-grade gain. For grades 3–5 the district generally kept pace with or exceeded state growth; the district remains a few percentage points behind the state in third-grade proficiency, which the presenters said is a major focus.

McCarthy walked the board through sample third-grade items and standards assessed by FAST, noting the shift in third grade from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” He said some items require background knowledge and complex analysis — for example, passages referencing tax forms or idioms — and that low scores can sometimes reflect unfamiliarity with context rather than a lack of basic decoding skills. He and Jensen emphasized that computer-adaptive scoring can depress or raise subsequent item difficulty as the test adapts to student responses.

When a board member asked about a previously noted anomaly (a high proportion of fraction questions on a prior year's third-grade math test), McCarthy said the state’s partial response so far was that “there weren't enough fraction questions originally when they released that test for Start FAST,” adding that the state has added questions and planned changes for spring. Jensen and McCarthy also clarified administration details: progress-monitoring assessments typically contain roughly 40–45 items and the cut scores under FAST are criterion-referenced and remain stable year to year.

Board members requested a more accessible, printable school-by-school report for PM1 and PM2 results; Jensen said staff would compile that and distribute it. Several trustees also raised instructional concerns including articulation between elementary and middle grades (particularly at the 5→6 transition) and the potential instructional advantages of K–8 models. Jensen described district steps already underway: school-level action plans, principal training on data disaggregation, targeted interventions, and support from curriculum staff.

Superintendent Wysong and the presenters urged the board and community to view PM2 results in context — midyear status, lost learning days from the hurricane, and the adaptive nature of the assessments — and to consider PM2 as a diagnostic tool to inform second-semester instruction. Jensen said the district will continue to monitor PM3 results and implement targeted interventions where the data indicate need.