The scores Florida’s students earned on the on Florida’s standardized tests in math and science this past spring would certainly not fall into the category of “good news”.
The percentage of test-takers passing the 5th and 8th grade science exams declined a bit from 2019 to 2021 (for 5th grade from 53% in 2019 to 47% in 2021; and in 8th grade from 48% in 2019 to 45% in 2021).
(The Florida Department of Education has testing results for all years posted here)
Taking Algebra 1 in middle school is the most common way of entering the STEM pipeline. So the news that fewer 6th, 7th and 8th graders took Florida’s Algebra 1 end-of-course exam in spring 2021 than in Spring 2019 (88,909 in spring 2021, 95,101 in spring 2019) isn’t good. But Algebra 1 students were not required to take the EOC in 2021, while they were in 2019 – so it’s not at all clear that fewer middle school students took Algebra 1 in 2020-21 than in 2018-19.
Perhaps the worst news for the STEM pipeline from the test scores was that the passing rates for those middle school students who took the EOC declined substantially. In spring 2019, 95% of 7th graders and 86% of 8th graders who took the Algebra 1 EOC passed. This spring, the passing rates were only 87% for 7th graders and 75% for 8th graders.
But the decline in Algebra 1 EOC passing rates for middle school students is exactly what you’d expect given the quarantines, economic disruptions and even family illnesses that many students experienced. There were declines in passing rates across many of the state’s exams.
What really matters is how many of those middle school Algebra 1 students who failed the exam concluded from the testing experience that they are not good enough at math to pursue STEM careers. Each of the students who failed the exam this spring needs a mentor (parent or otherwise) to look her or him in the eyes and say, “This was a rough year. You did fine. Let’s try again to pass that exam and move onto Geometry and Algebra 2.”
If the middle school students who didn’t pass the exam are not given that encouragement, the loss to the state could be substantial. Fourteen thousand fewer middle school students passed the Algebra 1 EOC in Spring 2021 than in Spring 2019. That could be fourteen thousand fewer bachelor’s degree graduates in fields like engineering, computing, the physical sciences and health professions in the state’s university graduating classes of 2029 and 2030.
And that doesn’t even address the individual tragedies that the losses of those opportunities would represent for those students and their families.
These students can recover and continue to progress through Florida’s STEM pipeline. But they will need extra encouragement and attention from their parents, teachers, counselors and other mentors to do so.
Bridge to Tomorrow 