Broward schools post strong gains on spring statewide tests

Broward County Public Schools posted its strongest spring statewide testing gains in English language arts, where every grade tested rose by at least three percentage points and districtwide proficiency reached 65% in ELA and math. The Florida Department of Education released the Spring 2026 results on June 29, and Broward said its students tied or outperformed the state and Florida’s four other largest districts in most tested subjects.

The gains matter because they were broad, not isolated to one course or one campus. Broward said ELA improved at every grade level tested, while the district’s overall results also reached 66% proficiency in Algebra 1, 63% in grade 5 science, 62% in grade 8 science, 75% in Biology, 77% in Civics and 77% in U.S. History. For parents, that means the clearest strength showed up in reading and writing, while science still trailed the district’s best-performing subjects.

Superintendent Howard Hepburn said the results reflected the work of teachers, school leaders, staff, families and students, and he said the numbers showed sustained academic growth across nearly every tested subject area. Broward’s own reporting shows that the latest results extended a multi-year rebound: from 2022/23 to 2025/26, the percentage of students scoring at or above grade level rose by 13 to 18 percentage points across the tested areas.

The district’s testing system also shapes how those results should be read. Broward said the FAST ELA and math exams are given three times a year, and PM3 is the final administration used for school accountability. The end-of-course results cover every test sitting during the 2025/26 school year, not just one window. That makes the spring numbers the most consequential public snapshot for judging school performance.

The latest progress lands in the middle of a hard financial and political stretch for Broward schools. WLRN reported in March that about 25,000 students had moved from at or below grade level to at or above grade level, even as the district faced a roughly $94 million budget hole tied to enrollment declines. In January, Broward said it had more than 236,000 students, about 300 schools and 50,000 empty seats, after closing six schools under its Redefining Our Schools effort and seeking about $100 million in savings.

That tension is now central to the local debate. Broward leaders are pointing to stronger scores to defend major policy changes, staffing shifts and school consolidations, while families still have reason to ask whether the improvement is broad enough, equitable enough and durable enough to erase the losses of the pandemic years. The headline numbers show momentum; the harder question is whether every student is getting there with the same speed.