1.3 B.E.S.T. Scale Scores & Achievement Levels

1.3 B.E.S.T. Scale Scores & Achievement Levels

Quick Answer: FAST results are reported on the B.E.S.T. scale in five achievement levels: Level 1 (Well Below Grade Level), Level 2 (Below Grade Level), Level 3 (On Grade Level), Level 4 (Proficient), and Level 5 (Exemplary). Meeting grade-level expectations means reaching Level 3 - a scale score of 201 in grade 3 ELA Reading and 198 in grade 3 Mathematics. The cut scores were adopted in Rule 6A-1.09422, Florida Administrative Code, on October 18, 2023. Two milestones carry statutory weight: a grade 3 student who scores Level 1 on PM3 ELA Reading must be retained under s. 1008.25, F.S., absent a Good Cause Exemption, and a grade 10 student must earn a scale score of 247 on FAST ELA Reading PM3 (or an approved concordant score) to graduate.

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The Five FAST Achievement Levels

When a student finishes a FAST assessment, the ability estimate produced by the adaptive algorithm is converted to a B.E.S.T. scale score. The State Board of Education partitions each grade's scale into five achievement levels, adopted in Rule 6A-1.09422, F.A.C. State law requires levels to run from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest), and FDOE states that Achievement Level 3 indicates On Grade Level performance across all assessments.

FDOE publishes a short descriptor for each FAST/B.E.S.T. level. Note that these labels differ from the ones used for Science and Social Studies, which still use Inadequate, Below Satisfactory, and Mastery - a distinction that trips up parents reading two different score reports from the same district.

[!IMPORTANT] The Science and Social Studies assessments use Inadequate / Below Satisfactory / On Grade Level / Proficient / Mastery. FAST and the B.E.S.T. EOCs use Well Below Grade Level / Below Grade Level / On Grade Level / Proficient / Exemplary. The numbered levels mean the same thing; only the words differ.

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The B.E.S.T. Scale: Official Score Ranges

Scores are not percentages and not raw counts. Each grade and subject has its own published range on the B.E.S.T. scale, and the ranges climb from grade to grade so that a family can compare a child's position year over year:

• Grades 3-10 ELA Reading: 140-308
• Grades 3-8 Mathematics: 140-291
• Kindergarten-Grade 2 ELA Reading: 0-341 (also reported on the STAR Unified Scale)
• Kindergarten-Grade 2 Mathematics: 38-369
• B.E.S.T. Algebra 1 and Geometry EOC: 325-475

Because each grade has its own band, a scale score only means something next to its own grade's cut scores. A 222 is Level 4 in grade 3 ELA Reading, Level 3 in grade 5 ELA Reading, and Level 2 in grade 8 ELA Reading. A student who scores 201 in grade 3 ELA Reading (the bottom of Level 3) and 222 in grade 5 ELA Reading (again the bottom of Level 3) has held steady at On Grade Level across two years of growth.

Official FAST ELA Reading Achievement Levels (Rule 6A-1.09422, F.A.C.)

Official FAST Mathematics Achievement Levels (Rule 6A-1.09422, F.A.C.)

High School Mathematics: the B.E.S.T. EOC Scale

Students who take B.E.S.T. Algebra 1 or Geometry are scored on a separate EOC scale of 325-475, not the FAST scale:

[!WARNING] Older tutoring material still quotes an Algebra 1 passing score of 497 on a 425-575 scale. That is the retired FSA scale. FDOE's own B.E.S.T. scale FAQ uses this exact pair as its illustration: the FSA Algebra 1 passing score was 497 on 425-575; the B.E.S.T. Algebra 1 passing score is 400 on 325-475. The test did not get easier - the numbers simply moved to a new range.

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High-Stakes Milestones: Grade 3 Retention & Grade 10 Graduation

1. Grade 3 ELA Reading Mandatory Retention (s. 1008.25, F.S.)

The end of third grade is the point at which instruction shifts from learning to read to reading to learn, and Florida law treats it as a hard gate. Under s. 1008.25(5)(b), F.S., a third grader whose reading deficiency is not remedied by the end of grade 3 - demonstrated by scoring below Level 2 on the statewide standardized ELA assessment - must be retained. Stated the way FDOE's fact sheet puts it: students in grade 3 must achieve a Level 2 or higher on PM3 of the Grade 3 FAST ELA Reading Assessment for promotion purposes.

In scale-score terms, a grade 3 PM3 ELA Reading score of 140-185 (Level 1) triggers the retention mandate. Retained students must receive intensive, evidence-based reading instruction, including a minimum of 90 minutes of daily uninterrupted reading instruction, and must be offered a summer reading camp. FDOE also offers a grade 3 FAST ELA Reading opportunity each summer.

The Six Statutory Good Cause Exemptions

Under s. 1008.25(6)(b), F.S., a grade 3 student who scores Level 1 on PM3 may still be promoted if the student qualifies for one of six codified Good Cause Exemptions:

1. Limited English proficiency: English Language Learners with fewer than two years of instruction in an approved English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.
2. Students with disabilities - alternate assessment: students whose IEP indicates that participation in the statewide standardized assessment program is not appropriate.
3. Approved alternative reading assessment: students who demonstrate an acceptable level of reading performance on a state-approved alternative standardized reading assessment - by rule, at or above the 45th percentile on the reading comprehension subtest of an approved norm-referenced test such as the Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition (SAT-10).
4. Student reading portfolio: students who demonstrate through an organized collection of independently produced work, scored against state rubrics, that they are reading on grade level across the grade 3 B.E.S.T. ELA benchmarks.
5. Students with disabilities with a prior retention: students with disabilities who participate in the statewide assessment, whose IEP or Section 504 plan documents more than two years of intensive reading intervention, and who were previously retained in kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3.
6. Two or more years of intervention plus two prior retentions: students who received intensive reading intervention for two or more years, still have a deficiency, and were previously retained in kindergarten through grade 3 for a total of two years.

2. Grade 10 ELA Reading Graduation Requirement

Under s. 1003.4282, F.S., a standard high school diploma requires passing the statewide ELA assessment, with the passing score fixed by Rule 6A-1.09422, F.A.C. For students who entered grade 9 in 2022-23 and after, the requirement is a scale score of 247 - the bottom of Level 3 - on grade 10 FAST ELA Reading PM3.

Per s. 1008.22, F.S., every grade 10 student must sit the grade 10 ELA assessment even if a passing concordant score is already on file. Students who do not pass may retake the assessment at each FAST ELA Reading Retake administration - four retake windows are offered across the year - and may continue past the twelfth-grade year if they need more instruction.

Concordant Score Pathways

A student may also satisfy the ELA graduation requirement with an approved concordant score. The State Board adopted B.E.S.T.-aligned concordant scores on July 16, 2025, effective August 19, 2025:

Students who entered grade 9 between 2020-21 and 2022-23 may also use the earlier set - SAT EBRW/Reading and Writing 480, ACT English and Reading averaged 18, CLT Verbal Reasoning + Grammar/Writing sum 36 - and students who entered grade 9 in 2023-24 or 2024-25 may use those scores if the test was taken before August 19, 2025. If the average of two ACT or PreACT subject scores ends in .5 or higher, it rounds up. Subject scores may come from different administrations, but not from two different tests (a CLT10 section cannot be combined with a CLT section).

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Deconstructing the Individual Student Report (ISR)

After each administration, results appear in the Florida Reporting System (FRS) within 24 hours of the student finishing, and families see them in the Family Portal. The Individual Student Report (ISR) is the document that packages that result.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                        FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION                  |
|                  FAST Individual Student Report (ISR) - ELA             |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Student: Jane Doe          Grade: 4               Window: PM2           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  OVERALL SCALE SCORE: 218                   ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL: LEVEL 3  |
|  Grade 4 ELA Reading scale: 154 - 270       (On Grade Level)            |
|                                                                         |
|  [L1: 154-198] [L2: 199-212] [L3: 213-223*] [L4: 224-236] [L5: 237-270] |
|                                     ^ (218)                             |
|  Statewide Percentile Rank: 58th Percentile                             |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  REPORTING CATEGORY PERFORMANCE                                         |
|  1. Reading Prose and Poetry            | Above Satisfactory            |
|  2. Reading Informational Text          | At/Near Satisfactory          |
|  3. Reading Across Genres & Vocabulary  | Below Satisfactory            |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An ISR has four analytical parts:

1. Overall scale score - the single number placing the student on that grade's B.E.S.T. range (here, 218 within grade 4's 154-270).
2. Achievement level - the categorical result, read against that grade's published cut scores. A 218 is Level 3 in grade 4 ELA Reading; the same 218 would be Level 2 in grade 5.
3. Statewide percentile rank - a norm-referenced comparison. FDOE reports percentile ranks at the student level after each PM window closes. A 58th percentile rank means the student scored at or above 58% of Florida fourth graders tested in that window.
4. Reporting category performance - the diagnostic layer. Each of the three ELA Reading reporting categories (and each math reporting category) is banded as Below Satisfactory, At/Near Satisfactory, or Above Satisfactory. Teachers additionally see results by benchmark at the student and classroom level.

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Common Exam Traps & Misconceptions

[!WARNING]

Trap 1: Treating Level 2 as "passing"

A "D" passes a classroom course; Level 2 does not pass a FAST assessment. Level 3 is the on-grade-level standard. In grades 4-9 a Level 2 does not force retention, but it does designate the student as off track and obligates the school to provide targeted support. In grade 3, Level 2 is the minimum for promotion - Level 1 triggers the retention mandate.

[!WARNING]

Trap 2: Comparing scale scores across grades

Every grade has its own published range. A grade 8 ELA Reading score of 240 is Level 3; a grade 10 score of 240 is Level 2. Never read a scale score without its grade's cut scores next to it, and never assume a rising number means a rising achievement level.

[!WARNING]

Trap 3: Building the overall level from category bands

Two "Above Satisfactory" categories and one "Below Satisfactory" category do not average out to a Level 3. The achievement level comes only from the overall scale score. The category bands are diagnostic pointers for instruction, not score components.

[!WARNING]

Trap 4: Assuming Good Cause Exemptions apply to graduation

Good Cause Exemptions under s. 1008.25, F.S., apply only to grade 3 reading retention. A senior cannot submit a reading portfolio in place of the grade 10 ELA requirement; the only alternatives are a passing retake score, an alternate passing score if eligible, an approved concordant score, or - for students with disabilities whose IEP team makes the determination under s. 1008.22(3)(d)2., F.S. - a waiver of assessment results.