Florida Students’ Math, Reading Scores Rise in 2025
Statewide progress monitoring scores, announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis, detail how students performed in reading, math, social studies and science.
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End-of-year testing results show Florida students were more proficient in math and reading than a year ago.
Statewide progress monitoring scores, announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday, detail how Florida’s students performed in reading, math, social studies, and science.
Math scores for all students from third grade to high school improved by 3% from 2024, with 58% of students demonstrating a level 3 or higher understanding. The county with the lowest score was Gadsden, with 35% testing at a level 3 or higher, and the highest, Nassau, with 78%.
Level 3, on the state’s scale of 1-5, is considered on grade level. Level 4 is considered proficient and level 5 is considered exemplary. Students who scored below level 3 are considered below or well below grade level.
Reading scores for students in grades 3-10 increased from 53% at level three or higher in 2024 to 57% in 2025. Gadsden County had the lowest performance at 36% at level 3 or higher and St. Johns was the highest at 72%.
“Florida insists that education be factual, student-focused, and parent empowered,” DeSantis said in a news release. “Florida has led the nation in instituting progress monitoring assessments that allow for teachers and parents to provide real-time interventions that support the long-term success of their students, and our approach has paid off.”
The progress monitoring tests are administered three times per year by the state. The periodic testing is designed to allow instructors to make interventions for struggling students sooner. This is the third year of progress monitoring in Florida.
During the Spring 2025 end-of-course assessment for the civics assessment, 71% of students tested at a level 3 or higher; 47% were proficient or higher.
“Today’s results affirm that our first-in-the-nation statewide progress monitoring system is making a difference for our students. Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida will continue to provide the best opportunities for our students,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a news release.
This year Florida scores dropped on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Eighth grade math scores have dropped in the last three iterations of the test, and Florida students that age ranked in the bottom 10 states for math and reading scores. Fourth grade reading scores on the NAEP were the lowest in 2024 since 2003, while their math scores increased but remain below pre-pandemic numbers.
The data for the NAEP, collected in early 2024, were disputed by Diaz, who questioned the methodology of the exam. Diaz wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Education with “suggestions to help make NAEP great for educational progress once again.”
He took issue with the lack of inclusion of private school students and he believed urban students were included at a disproportionate rate.
Diaz will step down next month to become interim president of the University of West Florida. Earlier this month, the Florida Board of Education named DeSantis deputy chief of staff Anastasios Kamoutsas the next education commissioner.
“Florida is a national leader in education because we are not afraid to challenge the status quo,” Kamoutsas said in the news release. “Progress monitoring assessments are a prime example of how Florida has changed education for the better, and the scores are proof of our successful approach.”
According to department data, students who are African American improved reading scores, with 45% scoring a level 3 or above in 2025 compared to those 40% scoring at the same level in 2024. Hispanic students increased performance during the same time frame on math, with 55% scoring level 3 or higher compared to 51% the year before.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected].
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