Florida is not No. 1 in reading, math, despite Scott promise

Gov. Rick Scott aimed high to improve Florida's education rankings. He promised in 2014 that the state would be "No. 1 in the nation for student performance in reading and math."

To compare test scores among the states, researchers and politicians typically point to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which tests progress in a variety of subjects including English and math at certain grade levels every other year.

We found at the end of Scott's tenure that Florida is not in the top spot for reading or math for fourth or eighth graders as of 2017.

Fourth grade reading: Florida scored lower than Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Eighth grade reading: Florida scored below many states.

Fourth grade math: Florida scored below Massachusetts, Minnesota, Virginia, New Jersey, Wyoming and Indiana.

Eighth grade math: Florida scored below many states and the national average.

Another way to examine state scores is to look at the percent of students scoring at or above the "proficient" level on NAEP. Sterling Lloyd, Education Week Research Center assistant director, compiled data based on that method for PolitiFact and found that Florida did not rank at the top.

"Florida ranks in the top ten at the 4th grade level but slips with respect to 8th grade results," Lloyd said.

Florida's rankings did improve between 2015 and 2017.

"Ranking first in the nation is something of an aspirational goal," Lloyd said. "Florida has made substantial progress toward that goal, at least at the 4th grade level."

Scott has pointed to improvements Florida made in many of these categories in recent years. While significant improvements are notable, Scott's promise was to be in the No. 1 spot.

Scott has often pointed to an increase in education funding during his tenure. He oversaw a $1.3 billion education cut, in his first year in office in 2011. However, over the next seven years with Scott as governor, the education budget grew each year.

While education funding matters, it isn't the only factor that drives student achievement, said University of Iowa education professor David Bills.

"Overall family factors have a big effect on achievement independent of school factors," he said. "It's hard to imagine a level of spending that Florida could undertake that would push them ahead of states where the socioeconomic constraints aren't as severe as they are in Florida."

Scott promised that Florida would become "No. 1 in the nation for student performance in reading and math." The state has fallen short of that goal. We rate this Promise Broken.