The three-digit FCAT scores tell us something about how children performed, but not much. On a grading scale from 100 to 500, your school probably falls somewhere in the middle, in the 300 range. But those three-digit scores can tell us a lot more Want to know how your school's academic performance has grown over a year? Find your school's scores Statewide FCAT: Many scores look better Pinellas: Schools weigh FCAT scores with caution Hillsborough: Scores higher than state average Citrus: Big picture appears brighter Hernando: Some truths reveal themselves Pasco: News so far: 'respectable scores'

Many FCAT scores look better

Grades for individual schools don't come out till next month, and with new rules, districts are unsure what kind of assessment their progress will receive.

Florida students seem to be getting the hang of the FCAT.

Educators and politicians sifted through millions of Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test scores released Wednesday. Many liked what they saw: Statewide math scores up in six of the eight grades tested. Reading scores up in the early grades. Writing scores holding steady.

Whether all that means kids really are getting smarter or the schools simply focused on mastering the test is a matter for debate as education takes center stage during upcoming elections.

"Our students are rising to the challenge and the higher standards we have set under the A+

plan, and it shows," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has been citing improved student achievement as he runs for a second term.

The improvements are offset by facts such as this: More than 40 percent of the state's 10th-graders failed the reading portion of the test. They will have five more opportunities to master it before graduation day in two years, but the raising of the passing score clearly resulted in more failures.

"We did anticipate that a significant portion of 10th-graders would not pass it this take," said Education Secretary Jim Horne. "We didn't get into this state overnight, and I don't think you can expect to be off the charts overnight."

As much as the scores say, they do not reveal what people most want to know: How do school grades look?

The highly anticipated, much-maligned A-through-F school grades that Bush created won't be released until June. And because the rules for calculating those grades have changed this year, educators are having a tough time playing the traditional guess-the-grade game.

"Right now this is a crystal ball with lots of clouds around it," said Sam Whitten, supervisor of assessment for the Hillsborough County schools. "People keep asking about the grades, but we just don't know yet."

Some districts, such as Miami-Dade, already have put out warnings that some of their schools might be saddled with F's. Even state officials have warned of F's this year. Last year there were none.

Students are eligible for vouchers to attend private schools if their public school fails twice. So far, only two Florida schools, both in Pensacola, have failed twice under the state's accountability system and lost students to vouchers.

The release of the scores Wednesday was just the first step. The state will use the three-digit FCAT scores to figure out how many kids at each school met the state standards. Then the state will determine how many children at each school made learning gains from one year to the next. That's a first.

For years the state took what amounted to only snapshots of student achievement, testing only in grades 4, 5, 8 and 10. Last year, the state expanded testing to include grades 3 through 10. Now in this second year of consecutive-year testing the state can look to see how last year's third-graders compare with this year's fourth-graders.

This new feature -- gauging the same students' progress over time -- is something that teachers have been clamoring for. It also forms the basis of half of the criteria for grading schools.

Now, schools with high overall scores might get a lower grade than they expect if they don't show learning gains, especially in reading scores among lower-performing students. And schools that traditionally posted low scores might be in for a nice surprise if their students made significant gains.

But all bets are off for now. Officials at the state Department of Education still have not released all the details of how they will calculate grades. So educators across Florida are left to make what they can of the reams and reams of test scores dumped into their computers Wednesday.

"Never mind the grades, we're looking to see how our students scored" according to the state standard, said Jan Morphew, director of research and accountability for the Citrus County schools. "These are important scores. They tell us how we're doing with all our students."

Comparisons are always tough from year to year, especially since the state keeps changing the rules.

"The scoring for the FCAT has changed for four consecutive years," said Maureen Dinnen, president of the state teachers union. "The results are meaningless if you're trying to figure out exactly how Florida's students are doing."

Comparisons are even tougher this year because the state is overhauling the testing system.

Still, the first-blush analysis showed some highlights. In Citrus County, the percentage of students meeting state standards was up in each grade level in each subject. Hillsborough County seemed to have won this round in its friendly rivalry with neighbor Pinellas County, with higher scores in more areas. And Pasco met or exceeded the state average in grades 6 through 10.

"We improved in almost every area," said Pasco superintendent John Long.

Educators can take heart that their scores actually will improve a bit before the school grades are announced. That's because some of the scores released Wednesday will be taken out when the grades are calculated. For instance, scores for many students who recently changed schools will not be included. Also, scores for many special education children will not be counted.

Some have accused the state of removing those scores to make the overall scores appear better than they really are. But some of the scores that are removed are done at the behest of teachers who, for instance, wanted to be judged only on the scores of the students they have taught for more than a few months.

-- Times staff writers Steve Bousquet and Alisa Ulferts contributed to this report.

FCAT calendar

Testing: February and March

Florida students took the FCAT writing test in February and the reading and math tests in March.

Scores released: mid May

On Wednesday the state released school-level test scores. Results posted on the Internet include averages for schools, districts and the state.

Individual student reports: late May

In a week or so, school districts will receive individual reports for each student, and send those reports home to parents. For the first time, the reports will show two years of scores for each child and a short note explaining what they mean.

Grades: early June

Soon the schools will learn what A-through-F grade their school earned. The criteria for assigning the grades are different this year, which makes guessing the grades nearly impossible.

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