Hernando County students earned recognition from Commissioner Pam Stewart for their improved performance on state science, U.S. History and civics assessments in 2015. Total fifth graders who passed science assessments increased 4 percentage points, and total eighth graders who passed science assessments increased 3 percentage points. Total high school students who passed the U.S. History end-of-course exam increased 3 percentage points. Proficiency rates on these three assessments exceeded state averages. Total middle school students who passed state civics end-of-course exams also exceeded state averages by 3 “I am incredibly proud of the students who worked hard all year to gain the knowledge they need to thrive and succeed, as well as the teachers whose commitment to educating our state’s students is evident through these results,” Stewart said.
While perennial high performers Challenger K-8 and Chocachatti Elementary had the highest pass rates on fifth grade science assessments, pass rates at Eastside Elementary increased 34 percentage points, pass rates at Pinegrove Elementary increased 24 percentage points and pass rates at Westside Elementary increased 15 percentage points. Parrott and Powell middle schools had the biggest increases in pass rates on eighth grade science assessments, with 12 and 5 point gains respectively.
Springstead and Nature Coast Technical high schools had the highest pass rates on the U.S. History end-of-course exam. Weeki Wachee High’s U.S. History end-of-course exam pass rates increased 13 percentage points. Challenger K-8, Explorer K-8 and Winding Waters K-8 had the highest pass rates on the civics end-of-course exam. District pass rates on the Biology I end-of-course exam decreased 5 percentage Hernando County also had the fewer third graders who scored in the bottom quintile on the new Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) in language arts compared to most districts, the Florida Dept. of Education recently announced. Only 14 percent of Hernando County students were among the lowest-performing, or bottom 20 percent, statewide.