Okeechobee Times

Of the 7,235 Highlands County School District students who took part in the 2022-23 school year FAST, 34.1% met the testing standard while 7.3% exceeded expectations, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Highlands County School District's proficiency level in the 2022-23 school year was 41.4%, 8.5% lower than the state's average of 49.9%.

During the 2022-23 school year, St. Johns County School District students fared the best on the ELA portion of the FAST, with 71.1% of them succeeding. Meanwhile Jefferson County School District students did worst on ELA, with 27% of the students passing the test.

There were 12,362 students enrolled in Highlands County School District schools in the 2022-23 school year.

According to WalletHub's analysis, Florida is ranked 9th out of 50 states in terms of its public school quality and safety.

In 2022, Florida had more than 2,8 million students enrolled in a total of 4,202 schools. There were 163,558 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 17 students, compared to the national average of 1:16.

Florida's choice to stick with in-person classes during the pandemic may have shielded students from significant learning setbacks. A recent Harvard study highlighted that districts heavily reliant on remote learning saw the most significant declines in student achievement amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“Interestingly, gaps in math achievement by race and school poverty did not widen in school districts in states such as Texas and Florida and elsewhere that remained largely in-person,” said Thomas Kane, professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

School Year	Students who met standards (%)	Students who exceeded standards (%)	Total Enrollment
2022-23	34.1%	7.3%	12,362