Duval students test below state average, DCPS superintendent takes action

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Despite improvements over last year, Duval County’s student test scores still fell behind the state average according to the results released from the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking last week.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

After getting sworn in, Duval County Public Schools superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier said the path to success starts with other districts’ grades.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

“What were you doing? What was the difference? What are we doing in making comparisons?,” Dr. Bernier said.

He charged his leadership with reaching out to their counterparts in other districts, like Pinellas. Compared to last year, the district there had a 6% increase in English Language Arts to 56% of students this year scoring on grade level or above.

In Duval, there was a 3% increase to 46% of students testing at or above grade level in English Language Arts. In math, the results showed a 2% increase to 50% at or above grade level.

The state average was above DCPS in both math and ELA. 53% of students tested on grade level or above in English, and 60% for math.

READ: Florida Education Department responds to report of removing climate change from science textbooks

Dr. Bernier argued the district did see some success though. “We have some schools that have done outstanding. What we have to look at is how did they make those proficiency gains, and how do we make those replications in the other schools here.”

During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Board Member Kelly Coker mentioned Lake Lucina Elementary, Fort Caroline Elementary, and Arlington Heights Elementary for example, all with significant gains.

According to the Florida Department of Education, charter schools outperformed traditional schools in both English and math statewide. It comes as DCPS is losing enrollment and money to charters.

Action News Jax’s Robert Grant asked Dr. Bernier how he plans on tackling that issue.

“The balance is always having the better product. There are people who choose one hardware store over the other right? I think the most important thing is we have to have the better product. We have to compete.”

This is the second year of the FAST assessment in Florida.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.