Chances are, 17 percent of third-graders in Broward County and 18 percent in Palm Beach County couldn't read that headline, according to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released today.
Only around 80 percent of the youngsters in both districts passed the reading test of the FCAT this year, which means that -- based on 2010 enrollment figures -- next year is going to be the second round of third grade for around 3,350 kids in Broward and 2,400 in Palm Beach.
The good-ish news is that the Broward youngsters only did a little worse than last year's round of third-graders -- when 16 percent failed the reading portion -- and the Palm Beach kiddos actually improved from 19 percent failure in 2010.
Between absolute failure in the reading test and giving a passing rating, 12 percent of both district's third-graders fell in the gray area -- they didn't quite fail the reading test, but they didn't reach the grade-level reading score. They still get to skip along to fourth grade.
But if all the news of poor reading scores is getting you down, we've got some good news: Third-graders don't suck that much at mathematics.
The math scores for Broward third-graders stayed the same as last year -- 80 percent at grade level or above -- although passing the math portion doesn't guarantee the kids a trip to fourth grade like the reading test does.
Palm Beach wasn't as hot on the math -- 75 percent were at grade level, compared to 79 percent in 2010.
Although both districts maintained similar stats in comparison to last year, we'll see how Broward's kids do on next year's FCAT, now that they're short 1,400 teachers.
Click here for all of the third-grade reading and mathematics FCAT results from the Florida Department of Education.
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