Okaloosa School District improves ranking in state assessment tests

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Education‘s recent analysis of test results is in, and the Okaloosa County School District (OCSD) said it has secured an impressive overall 5th place out of 67 school districts statewide.

This marks a significant improvement from their previous rankings, having risen from 8th in 2021 to 7th in 2022, the OCSD said in an announcement.

“In a year that brought new, more rigorous statewide assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics to Florida, Okaloosa students once again outperformed almost every other school district in the state in their proficiency rankings,” the OCSD said.

According to the OCSD, ELA and math results in grades 4-8 showed particularly strong improvement in proficiency levels among students even though a new, more rigorous assessment, the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), was administered this year in those areas.

“Our teachers, support professionals, administrators, and parents did a tremendous job this year helping our students be successful with the new standards, but the lion’s share of the credit goes to the students, and we are all very proud of them,” said Superintendent of Schools Marcus Chambers.

“We’ll continue to focus on areas where we can be even better, but we are extremely pleased with the overall results.”

The results of these assessments, along with other academic indicators, are used to produce school grades. The FDOE is expected to release baseline grades for schools later in the fall.

For more information, visit https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/results/2023.stml