Perhaps it comes as no surprise, but the statewide FCAT Writing results continued to hold steady with slight variations from last year.

The average fourth-grade score was 4.0, up from 3.8. The average eighth-grade score rose to 4.3 from 4.2. The average tenth-grade score dipped from 3.9 to 3.8. The percentage of students scoring 4.0 or better continued to rise in fourth and eighth grade. (The scores are based on a six-point scale.)

Locally, the county averages looked like this:

Hernando: 3.9 (fourth grade), 4.1 (eighth grade) and 3.8 (tenth grade)
Hillsborough: 4.1 (fourth grade), 4.6 (eighth grade) and 4.0 (tenth grade)
Pasco: 3.8 (fourth grade), 4.1 (eighth grade) and 3.7 (tenth grade)
Pinellas: 4.0 (fourth grade), 4.3 (eighth grade) and 3.9 (tenth grade)

The fluctuations were minimal in each county. Hernando and Pasco fourth graders saw their average score increase by 0.2, while Hillsborough's went up 0.3. Many of the other average scores remained the same as last year, or changed by 0.1.

The full state report including school-by-school numbers are available on the Florida Department of Education Web site. The DOE does not plan to have a briefing to discuss the data.