SCOPE has begun updating the data in our Community Report Card. Below are some highlights from the Learning section. 

Some of the indicators below are compared to among seven Gulfcoast counties recommended by Sarasota County government as "comparison counties". These are: Sarasota, Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas. 

Early Learning

The Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading (FAIR-K) was part of the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS), discontinued in 2014. It was used in Sarasota County to measure kindergarten readiness in reading of preschoolers. Screening was conducted by Voluntary Pre-kindergarten (VPK) providers. 

• In the 2013-2014 school year 77% of VPK students in the Sarasota County school district tested “ready” for kindergarten, in Florida State 74% tested “ready”. 

•  The Sarasota County school district ranked 2nd in students passing the FAIR-K (scoring a level 3 or above), out of seven Gulfcoast “comparison counties”. 

• The Early Childhood Observation System (ECHOS) was another subset of the FLKRS. It was an observational instrument used to monitor the skills, knowledge and behaviors a student demonstrates or needs to develop.  

• In the 2013-2014 school year 92% of VPK students in Sarasota County tested “ready” for kindergarten, according to the ECHOS. In Florida State 91% tested “ready”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
•  The Sarasota County school district ranked 3rd in “kindergarten readiness”, according to the ECHOS, out of seven Gulfcoast “comparison counties” 

Teachers

•  In the 2014-2015 school year 54% of teachers in the Sarasota County school district had advanced degrees, compared to 34% in Florida.

• Sarasota County has the most teachers with advanced degrees out of seven Gulfcoast “comparison counties”

•  In the 2014-2015 school year, Sarasota County teachers had an average annual salary of $57,026, compared to $47,950 in Florida.                                              

• In 2014-2015 the Sarasota County school district had the 2nd highest teacher's salaries out of all 67 Florida counties, Monroe County ranked 1st. 

Third Grade Reading

• In 2015-2016 68% of Third Graders in Sarasota County passed the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) in English Language Arts, compared to 53% in Florida. This is the assessment that determines reading proficiency.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
• In 2015-2016 Sarasota County ranked 4th in out of all 67 Florida counties in the percentage of third graders passing the English Language Arts FSA 

• In 2015-2016 the average scores of White and Black third grade students in Sarasota County differed by 30.2% on the English Language Arts FSA.  In Florida this difference is 27.8%.                                                                                                                                                                                                
• In 2015-2016 the average scores of non-economically disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged third grade students in Sarasota County differed by 19.6% on the English Language Arts FSA. In Florida this difference is 27.8%

•  In 2014-2015 72% of third Graders in Sarasota County passed the Florida Standards Assessment in Mathematics, compared to 61% in Florida.                                                                                                  

• Sarasota County ranks 9th in out of all 67 Florida counties in the percentage of third graders passing the English Language Arts FSA  

•  In 2015-2016 the average scores of White and Black third grade students in Sarasota County differed by 25.2% on the Mathematics FSA. The difference between White and Black third grade students in Florida is 25

•  In 2015-2016 the average scores of non-economically disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged third grade students in Sarasota County differed by 16% of the Mathematics FSA. In Florida this gap is 23%

District Outcomes: Graduation Rate

•  In 2014-2015, Sarasota County had a graduation rate of 79.2%, compared to 77.9% in Florida.

•  Sarasota County ranked 2nd in graduation rate out of seven Gulfcoast “comparison counties”.

• In 2014-2015 the graduation rates of White and Black students in Sarasota County differed by 19%. The difference in Florida was 14.8%.

•  In 2014-2015 the graduation rates of non-economically disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged students in Sarasota County differed by 10.7%. In Florida this difference was 15.3%

District Outcomes: Drop Out Rate

• In 2014-2015, Sarasota County had a cohort dropout rate of 5%, compared to Florida’s dropout rate of 4.1%.

• Sarasota has the 3rd lowest dropout rate out of seven Gulfcoast “comparison counties” 

•  In 2014-2015 the dropout rates of Black and White students in Sarasota County differed by 5%. The difference in Florida was .7%.

• In 2014-2015 the dropout rates of economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students in Sarasota County differed by 6.3%. In Florida this difference was 3.1%