Nature Coast Times

Of the 140 Dixie County students who took part in the 2022-23 school year FAST, 45.7% met the testing standard while 0.7% exceeded expectations, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Dixie County's proficiency level in the 2022-23 school year was 46.4%, 2.5% lower than the state's average of 48.9%.

During the 2022-23 school year, Lafayette County students fared the best on the Geometry portion of the FSA, with 73.9% of them succeeding. Meanwhile Gadsden County students did worst on Geometry, with 15.3% of the students passing the test.

There were 2,090 students enrolled in Dixie County 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.

After the pandemic, Florida registered a decline in students' performance, especially in mathematics-related areas.

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 Enrolment
2022-23	45.7%	0.7%	2,090