Marion County School District points to improvements after poor test results

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - Test results released by the Florida Department of Education put Marion County Public Schools near the bottom of the state, but district officials say they are trending in the right direction.

In Marion County, 46 percent of students scored at a Level 3 proficiency or higher in math and 45 percent scored a Level 3 or above in English. The state average in 2024 is 55 and 53 percent respectively.

RELATED: How did North Central Florida students score on 2024 tests? FAST results breakdown.

The scores are a few points higher than the English and math results in 2023. U.S. history scores improved from 63 percent in 2022 to 66% in 2024, making that a three percent increase in two years.

A spokesperson for MCPS notes the state doesn’t rank school districts by scores because every county has its own challenges.

“We’re always looking at the resources that we use, and by resources, we mean everything from online programs and cloud platforms to people,” said Kevin Christian, a spokesperson.

A mother who attended school in Marion County says she had a mixed experience.

“I graduated from Forest and things for me were well,” said Alisha Johnson, a former MCPS student. “I was in a lot of their advanced programs. I think I got what I could get out of school, it could’ve been better as far as like staffing of teachers and everything and the drive of the teachers but overall it was good.”

Johnson says she plans to enroll her 3-year-old in a private school in Marion County.

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