How to Read Your Child's FAST Score Report

PM3 testing wraps up by the end of May, and score reports start landing in family portals and inboxes through early June. When the report finally shows up, it can feel like a wall of numbers and bands and bars, with a few things that look important but don't really tell you what to do next.

This is a plain-English walkthrough of every piece of the 6th grade FAST math score report. What each number actually means, which parts are the most useful, and what to do once you've read it.

Where to Find the Report

Districts release FAST reports in different places. Most Florida districts post them in their parent portal (often FOCUS or a similar system). Some email a PDF directly. A few still send paper copies home with students.

PM1 and PM2 reports are usually available within a few weeks after the testing window closes. PM3 reports for the 2025-26 school year will start showing up in late May and continue through early June. If you can't find it, the front office at your child's school can pull it up.

The Two Numbers That Matter Most

Strip away everything else on the report and there are two numbers worth understanding first.

1. The scale score. A number between 260 and 390 for 6th grade math. This is the actual measurement. It's the same scale used statewide, so a 330 means the same thing in Miami as it does in Pensacola.
2. The achievement level. A 1 through 5 ranking that turns the scale score into a category. Level 3 is on grade level. Levels 1 and 2 are below. Levels 4 and 5 are above.

The achievement level is what schools and districts report on. The scale score is what tells you where your child actually sits inside that level.

The 6th Grade Math Achievement Levels

Here's how the scale score maps to levels for 6th grade math:

• Level 1: 260 to 309 (well below grade level)
• Level 2: 310 to 324 (below grade level)
• Level 3: 325 to 338 (on grade level)
• Level 4: 339 to 355 (above grade level)
• Level 5: 356 to 390 (mastery)

Level 3 and above counts as proficient for state reporting. Statewide in 2025, around 60 percent of Florida 6th graders hit Level 3 or higher in math.

A score of 325 and a score of 338 are both Level 3, but they're not the same situation. A 325 student is sitting right on the edge. A 338 student is comfortably on grade level. The scale score gives you that nuance the level alone can't.

The Reporting Category Breakdown (the most useful part)

Underneath the overall score, the report breaks performance down into three reporting categories:

1. Number Sense and Operations (about 33 to 42 percent of the test)
2. Algebraic Reasoning (about 25 to 36 percent of the test)
3. Geometric Reasoning, Data Analysis, and Probability (about 25 to 36 percent of the test)

For each category, the report shows whether your child performed below the standard, at or near the standard, or above the standard. Some districts also include a sub-score or percentage.

This is the part that tells you something useful. The overall level tells you where your child landed. The category breakdown tells you why. A Level 3 student with strong Number Sense and weak Algebraic Reasoning needs different practice than a Level 3 student with the opposite pattern. If you only look at the overall level, you miss that completely.

If you only have time to look at one part of the report past the headline number, make it this one.

What the Report Doesn't Tell You

A few things parents often expect to see and don't:

• A percentile rank. The state-issued FAST report gives you a scale score and an achievement level, but doesn't put a percentile on it. Some districts add their own comparison context.
• A standard-by-standard breakdown. The report stops at the three reporting categories. It doesn't tell you that your child specifically missed ratio problems or integer problems.
• The specific questions they got wrong. Released items are limited. Most of what's on the report is summary data.

If you want that level of detail, you have to get it somewhere else. A diagnostic quiz or a conversation with the math teacher are the two most reliable ways.

What to Do Based on the Level

A quick read on what each level usually means and what tends to help:

• Level 1 (260 to 309). Significant gaps in foundational skills. Catching up by next year usually takes more than FAST practice alone. Targeted intervention on number sense and operations is the most common starting point. Ask the school what supports they offer.
• Level 2 (310 to 324). Right on the edge. These are often the students who can move to Level 3 the fastest, because they're close. Look at the reporting category breakdown and put practice time into whichever category came back below standard.
• Level 3 (325 to 338). On grade level. The goal here is to hold the line through summer and start building into 7th grade. Light, consistent practice is more effective than a heavy push.
• Level 4 (339 to 355). Solidly above grade level. These students benefit from harder practice and from preview material from the next grade, not more 6th grade review.
• Level 5 (356 to 390). Already showing mastery. The risk here is boredom, not skill loss. Acceleration material works better than repeating what they already know.

A Note on Growth Across PM1, PM2, and PM3

If you have all three score reports from the year, the most useful thing you can do is compare them. A student who went from 318 in fall to 332 in spring made real growth, even if both numbers landed in different levels. A student whose scale score didn't move much across the year is the one to talk to a teacher about, not necessarily the student with the lower score.

Growth is what schools track internally and what often drives the conversation at parent-teacher conferences. It's also the most honest measure of whether what your child has been doing is working.

Where Algebro Fits In

The single biggest gap in the FAST score report is that it tells you the reporting category your child struggled in but not the specific standards inside it. That's the gap Algebro was built to close.

Algebro gives you both views. You see the same three reporting categories the FAST uses, and underneath each one you see a standard-by-standard breakdown (MA.6.NSO.1.1, MA.6.AR.2.3, and so on). From there, Algebro builds a personalized study plan that targets the exact standards your child needs and skips the ones they don't, with our AI tutor Bro available for help on every problem.

There are two ways to get that breakdown. The 25-question diagnostic is the quick version. It takes about 20 minutes and gives you a fast read on where your child stands across the major standards. For the most accurate picture, the full-length FAST practice test is the one to take. It mirrors the real test format and length, and the resulting study plan is built off of a much larger sample of your child's actual work.

It's $10 a month and there's a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. If your PM3 report came back lower than you hoped, this is the fastest way to figure out where the actual gaps are before next school year.

The Algebro Team