USA Comparison: Florida is Next to Lowest

A frequent question is how does Florida compare to other states? Is it normal for students to fall below grade level in reading as they receive more years of education?

In a national list of 2005 data that includes 4th grade and 8th grade reading levels, Florida is next to the bottom. Every state except Mississippi performed better than Florida at increasing the percentage of students who read on grade level, or in simply keeping students on grade level in reading. (See a quick walkthrough of the data in this comparison.)

The USA's best state (ranked #1): 16% more Massachusetts students read on grade level by 8th grade, compared to this state's 4th grade percentage.
The USA's lowest state (ranked #47 because 3 states did not have data): 32% of Missippi's students appear to fall below grade level in reading between 4th grade and 8th grade.
Florida's educational performance (ranked #46, next to lowest): 27% of Florida's students appear to fall below grade level in reading between 4th grade and 8th grade.

This presents two views of the same data:

Left: Order of educational performance The best performing state is ranked #1	Right: Alphabetical order Each state's rank is in the right column

This table compares 2005 data from state reading tests for 4th graders with 8th graders. It lists the percent of students who are proficient in reading in 2005 at these two grades. The right column shows each district's state rank. No data was provided for 3 states. (data source)

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