The Light Bearer

How Black students are performing in Florida schools

In Florida, 45.3% of Black students reach Level 3 in reading at the typical school — against 62.6% of White students. Within Miami-Dade alone, the gap between the best and worst schools for Black children is 94 points. This tool helps you find the right one.

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53%
All students
45.7%
Black
51.4%
Hispanic
63.7%
White
82.2%
Asian

Share of students meeting level 3 or above at the typical Florida school. Groups are shown wherever Florida reports them; a group is omitted from a school when too few students were tested to report safely.

These figures come from FAST & B.E.S.T. 2025, measuring level 3 or above in ELA & Math · Grades 3–8. Across 66 districts, 2,147 Florida schools report enough results to be included.

At the typical Florida school the picture is black students at 45.7%, hispanic students at 51.4%, white students at 63.7% and asian students at 82.2%. That is a 36.5-point spread between the highest and lowest group, inside the same schools, the same districts and the same state — which is what this tool exists to make visible.

What the Florida data shows

Opportunity
32

Florida schools earn an A for Black students

An A means 80% or more of Black students reach Level 3. Thirty-two schools clear it — led by Bak Middle School of the Arts in Palm Beach at 90.1% across 324 Black student results, and Pembroke Pines Charter Middle at 85.5% across 525. Another 110 reach 70%.

Disparity
94.1 pts

gap between the best and worst schools for Black students in Miami-Dade

iPrep Academy North reaches 96.4%. Jan Mann Educational Center, in the same district, sits at 2.3%. Across 159 schools in one district, a child's address decides which end they land on. Broward shows an 88-point spread across 223 schools.

Statewide
22.7 pts

separates Black and White students in Florida reading

44.5% of Black students reach Level 3, against 67.2% of White students. Math is 24.8 points. Measured across 248,130 Black student results — the largest sample of any state here.

Where Black students are doing best in Florida

These are the schools where Black students most often meet level 3 or above, among those with at least 25 Black student results reported. Every group's result is shown alongside, because a school that serves one group well and another poorly is telling you something too.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
A.D. Henderson University School & Fau High-0011FAU Lab School 96.9% 97.3% 97.6% 97.3% 100%
Iprep Academy North-7459Miami-Dade 92.3% 96.4% 90.2% 94.2%
Pinecrest Lakes Academy-9041Lake Charter 89.8% 94.6% 86.3% 91.9% 84.6%
Broward Virtual Franchise-7004Broward Virtual 91.3% 94.4% 94.1% 91.2%
Hive Preparatory School-1014Miami-Dade Charter 88.6% 93.9% 88.3%
Western Academy Charter School-2911Palm Beach Charter 84.3% 93.7% 84.6% 84.6%
Morikami Park Elementary School-1951Palm Beach Magnet 95.5% 93.5% 96.7% 95% 97.4%
Bak Middle School Of The Arts-2511Palm Beach Magnet 95.2% 90.1% 93.6% 97% 98.7%
Walker Middle Magnet School-4611Hillsborough Magnet 90.2% 89.8% 89% 90.3% 95.1%
Herbert A. Ammons Middle Schl-6001Miami-Dade Magnet 92.1% 89.5% 92% 96.2% 95%

Flags show magnet, charter, alternative and virtual schools. Some campuses — early college and specialized academies among them — also admit by application, and this page cannot yet identify all of them. Check with the district before assuming a school is open to your address.

Where Black students are struggling most

The same measure at the other end of the range. In many of these schools every group is falling short, which points at the school rather than at the students in it.

SchoolAllBlackHispanicWhiteAsian
Dropout Prevention School-7071Pinellas Alt 4.3% 0%
A.Quinn Jones Center-0052Alachua Alt 0% 0%
Jan Mann Educational Center-8101Miami-Dade Alt 15% 2.3% 40.9%
Achieve Academy At Mcmillian-0211Escambia Alt 3.6% 2.5% 5.4%
Success Academy At Ghazvini Learning Center-1211Leon Alt 5.2% 2.7%
Endeavor Academy-0331Hernando Alt 16% 2.8% 32% 10.8%
Success Academy-0552Lee Alt 2.2% 2.9% 0%
Pepin Academies-6609Hillsborough CharterSped 8.2% 3.2% 10.1% 10.9%
Chester W. Taylor, Jr. Elementary School-0060Pasco 26.6% 3.3% 23.9% 28.8%
Horizons Academy-0731Manatee Alt 6.3% 3.3% 7.7%

One district, two outcomes

In Miami-Dade, Iprep Academy North-7459 reports 96.4% of Black students meeting the standard. Jan Mann Educational Center-8101, in the same district, reports 2.3%. That is a 94.1-point spread across 159 schools under one administration, serving one community, funded by one tax base — the clearest illustration of why address matters more than it should.

Florida districts

Districts with at least ten schools reporting Black student results, by school count. The percentage shown is the average across that district's schools for Black students.

Broward — 223 schools, 55.1% average
Miami-Dade — 159 schools, 51.7% average
Hillsborough — 151 schools, 40.4% average
Duval — 150 schools, 43.9% average
Orange — 147 schools, 49.2% average
Palm Beach — 146 schools, 48.6% average
Polk — 104 schools, 38.4% average
Pinellas — 67 schools, 39.4% average
Lee — 53 schools, 38.6% average
Brevard — 46 schools, 40.2% average
Escambia — 42 schools, 37% average
Pasco — 39 schools, 42.1% average
Osceola — 38 schools, 42.8% average
St. Lucie — 37 schools, 48.9% average
Volusia — 37 schools, 41.8% average
Manatee — 36 schools, 35.7% average
Marion — 36 schools, 35.1% average
Seminole — 36 schools, 42.4% average
Alachua — 34 schools, 32% average
Leon — 33 schools, 45.3% average
Lake — 31 schools, 46.2% average
Collier — 29 schools, 57.2% average
Clay — 25 schools, 48.6% average
Bay — 21 schools, 38.3% average
Okaloosa — 20 schools, 47.4% average
Indian River — 17 schools, 54.3% average
Sarasota — 17 schools, 44.3% average
St. Johns — 13 schools, 51.2% average
Hernando — 11 schools, 37.5% average
Highlands — 11 schools, 42.5% average
Putnam — 10 schools, 35.4% average
Columbia — 9 schools, 43.3% average
Gadsden — 9 schools, 37.9% average
Santa Rosa — 9 schools, 40% average
Flagler — 8 schools, 45.5% average
Charlotte — 7 schools, 43.4% average
Jackson — 7 schools, 47.1% average
Martin — 7 schools, 33.8% average
Hendry — 6 schools, 51.9% average
Citrus — 5 schools, 34.9% average
How these averages are calculated. The figures above average across Florida schools, giving each school equal weight. They describe the typical school, not the state's tested population, and will differ from the headline figure FAST & B.E.S.T. 2025 publishes — that one weights every student equally, so larger schools count for more. Use the state's own published figure when citing a statewide number.

How to read the school data. Florida suppresses results for groups of fewer than ten students. Schools without a reportable Black student result are excluded rather than shown as zero — 2,147 of Florida's schools have reportable data. Coverage is grades 3–8; high schools are not included. This ranking reflects the 2024–25 FAST administration, grades 3–8. Results are refreshed annually as new data is published. Because every state sets its own proficiency standard, Florida's figures should not be compared directly against another state's.

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