Florida Students Show Significant Gains in Mid-Year Progress Monitoring

February 11, 2026

FDOE Press Office

850-245-0413

Florida Students Show Remarkable Mid-Year Achievements in Statewide Assessments

Tallahassee, Fla., February 11, 2026 – In an encouraging development for Florida’s education sector, Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas announced today that the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST) has revealed notable progress in students’ mid-year performance. The FAST English Language Arts assessment indicates that 49% of students are performing at or above their grade level, marking a 10-percentage point increase from the start of the academic year and a 4-percentage point rise compared to the same period last year. Similarly, the FAST Mathematics assessment shows 34% of students achieving at or above grade level, reflecting an 18-percentage point increase since the beginning of the school year and a 3-percentage point improvement over last year.

These mid-year results reveal that students are reaching end-of-year standards earlier than in previous years. This progress is evidenced by over 50,000 students now performing on or above grade level in English language arts and nearly 20,000 more students achieving similar benchmarks in mathematics. Such improvements underscore the effective, high-quality teaching occurring in classrooms throughout Florida.

Commissioner Kamoutsas addressed teachers and parents with a message that highlighted these achievements and called for continued collaboration to ensure all students complete the school year on a strong note.

Watch the Commissioner’s Message about Mid-Year Progress Monitoring Results

“Mid-year progress monitoring results show that Florida’s students are continuing to succeed. I commend the hard work of students across our state and the dedication of teachers whose classroom instruction is pivotal to these gains,” said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. “Thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis’ leadership, Florida replaced high-stakes testing with the nation’s first progress monitoring system, an approach that is consistently delivering improved outcomes for students.”

Key findings from the FAST English Language Arts (ELA) Progress Monitoring Mid-Year Results (PM2) include:

49% of students are performing at or above grade level on PM2, reflecting a 10-percentage point increase from PM1 at the school year’s start.

This year’s PM2 ELA results are 4 percentage points higher than last year’s PM2 and 10 percentage points higher than the 2022-23 school year, when FAST Progress Monitoring was first implemented.

Highlights from the FAST Mathematics Progress Monitoring PM2 Results are as follows:

34% of students are performing at or above grade level on PM2, marking an 18-percentage point rise from PM1 at the start of the year.

This year’s PM2 results in Mathematics are 3 percentage points above last year’s PM2 results and 6 percentage points higher than the 2022-23 school year.