FL Education Department presents new K-12 assessment standards to Legislature

In a presentation to the Florida Senate Committee on preschool through 12th-grade education, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz’s annual recommendation for cut-off scores for the state’s progress assessments was presented by education official Juan Copa.

The Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) began with the 2022-2023 school year after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an education reform bill into law the previous spring. It is an ungraded assessment meant to give the state a sense of the academic readiness of students, Copa said.

For English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments, there are five achievement levels for students. The Florida education commissioner annually recommends new cut-off scores for each level, which are to be reviewed by the Legislature and approved by the State Board of Education.

Levels 1 and 2 are the lowest, Level 3 is considered “on-grade-level,” and Levels 4 and 5 are above average.