Florida: 2026 Assessment Results
ELA and math gains continued in 2026, extending Florida’s climb since the FAST launch
2026 State Test Score Results Data Series
The 2026 State Test Score Results Data Series is published by the Education Data Center and is designed to provide updates on 2026 state assessment data.
What to expect: Our goal is to provide high-level insights on ELA and math state summative assessment outcomes for students in grades 3-8. We will publish overviews as State Education Agencies (SEAs) publicly release assessment results and/or as we receive aggregate results via public records requests.
You asked, we listened! To help shape our 2026 series, we reviewed the feedback you shared with us via the EDC 2026 Feedback Form - you said even more disaggregation by subgroup and grade level would be useful, and some more information about school districts demonstrating growth compared to last year. In this 2026 series, we hope that the additional detail will be useful - and please continue to send input via the Feedback Form or our email below.
For additional information about each state assessment, please see the end of this post. All available 2026 assessment data used for this data series will be published by the EDC in December.
Questions, comments, or suggestions? Let us know at info@eddatacenter.org!
Trends Over Time
Last Friday, Florida released the Spring 2026 FAST results for students in grades 3-8, the third state to publish 2026 assessment results. This year, results include additional information about not only the grade-level of the assessment, but the grade-level of students enrolled, allowing deeper understanding of off-grade assessments and accelerated learning.
In Florida, overall 2026 proficiency rates for students taking the grade 3–8 assessments show gains in both ELA and math compared to 2025. We cannot make true comparisons to years prior to 2023, as FL administered a new statewide assessment during the 2022-23 school year in ELA and math: the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST), aligned to new Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) content standards. FAST results are reported on a different score scale, with different cut scores from the prior assessment (FSA).
ELA: Approximately 61% of students reached proficiency in 2026 on the FAST assessment for grades 3-8, rising above 56.7% in 2025. This included gains at every grade level. Grades 5 and 7 demonstrated the greatest growth, each rising approximately 6 percentage points from 2025 (Grade 5 from 55% to 61%, Grade 7 from 56% to 62%).
Math: Approximately 61.9% of students reached proficiency on the grade 3-8 assessments in 2026, above 58.7% in 2025. Grades 5 and 8 experienced the greatest gains in math compared to 2025, with achievement rising 5 percentage points in Grade 5 (from 57% to 62%) and 6 percentage points in Grade 8 (from 56% to 62%).
A press release about the recent results from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted the value of the state’s progress monitoring system in helping to support student progress:
Florida became the first state in the nation to replace traditional end-of-year testing with a progress monitoring system. Under the previous high-stakes testing model, students could struggle the entire school year without educators receiving the information needed to proactively address those challenges. Florida’s progress monitoring system changed that by providing teachers, students, and families with real-time insight into student performance. This allows educators and parents to identify areas where students may need additional support, adjust instruction, and help students stay on track to achieve academic success. Since the implementation of progress monitoring in 2023, student performance has steadily increased across grade levels and student subgroups.
Results by Achievement Level
A Closer Look at 2026
State Assessment Background
Assessment Name: Florida Standards Assessments (2015-2022) and the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (2023-2026)
Additional Information:
More information about the FAST assessments can be found here: https://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/best/
The Florida Department of Education’s press release for 2026 results for all grades can be found here: https://www.flgov.com/eog/news/press/2026/governor-ron-desantis-announces-historic-academic-student-achievement-end-year
Data presented here are specific to this state’s assessment and are not comparable to assessments administered by other states. For questions, please reach out to info@eddatacenter.org.
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Keep up the great work! Eager to see more.