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PRESS RELEASE

May 17, 2007

Tom Butler
(850) 245-0413

Commissioner Blomberg Announces Reading and Mathematics NRT Scores for Third Through 10th Grade
Florida students continue to score better than the national average

TALLAHASSEE – Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg today announced the reading and mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Norm-Referenced Test (NRT) scores for third through 10th grade. Each year, a portion of the FCAT includes a national NRT, which is used to measure how Florida students are performing compared to students nationally. In each grade, Florida students scored better than the national average score of 50.

"Teaching the Sunshine State Standards in our schools is helping our students remain nationally competitive," said Commissioner Blomberg. "When we equip our children with the proper learning tools we help them to succeed on a multitude of levels."

The most common scores reported for the NRT are national percentile ranks. These scores tell how a student ranked when compared to a national comparison sample. The scores range from the first percentile to the 99th percentile, with the average student’s score at the 50th percentile. For example, in fifth grade reading this year, Florida’s national percentile rank is 74. This means that the average Florida fifth grader scored equal to or better than 74 percent of the national comparison sample.

2007 NRT Scores for Reading

2007 NRT Scores for Mathematics

The purpose of using the NRT is to provide parents with an indication of how well students are doing compared to their peers across the nation. The national comparison sample currently being used was tested in 2002. Comparing the current results to the national sample indicates considerable learning improvements by Florida students. In fact, Florida’s NRT performance is well above average in all grades on both reading and mathematics. Mathematics scores for grades 4 and 5 were in the top quarter of the national sample.

The Stanford 10 is the national NRT used by Florida. The content assessed on the Stanford 10 is a generalized national curriculum. It includes some of the same concepts of reading comprehension and mathematics problem solving as the FCAT, but does not assess them in the same way. More information about the Stanford 10 is available on the department’s website at http://fcat.fldoe.org/pdf/fcat-nrt-sat10.pdf (PDF).

To view the NRT scores for third through 10th grade, visit: http://fcat.fldoe.org.

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