Teachers and administrators at Lewis Anna Woodbury Elementary School in Fort Meade will ``eat gross stuff or have pies stuffed in your face'' next week, according to fourth-grader John Barwick.

Yet compared with what they lived through this past hurricane season, when three of Florida's four major storms swept over their community, it'll be easy. And it will be a fun way to reward students for getting higher scores.

Like other school districts that raised FCAT scores - which locally included Pasco and Pinellas districts - Polk County officials were relieved Wednesday when the state released numbers showing gains by third-graders in reading and math.

``We have several teachers who still are not back in their houses and children who are in FEMA trailers and rented houses,'' said Anita Lyle, principal at Lewis Anna Woodbury.

The hard times didn't show in the numbers. Wednesday's results have the school's third- graders scoring three points above the district average in reading and four points above the district in math. Last week's preliminary results were even better: fourth-graders scored above the state and the district in writing and 71 percent of the third-graders were at grade level or above in reading and math.

``We've been improving - yearly,'' said third-grade teacher Nita Prater, who attributes the success partly to giving second-grade parents a folder of assignments and flash cards to use with their children over the summer.

One number Lyle and her staff are especially proud of: The percentage of third-graders reading below grade level has consistently gone down. This year, 19 percent of the third-graders tested at Level 1, down from 35 percent in 2003.

Statewide, 67 percent of third-graders this year scored at grade level or above in reading compared with 66 percent last year. The math results improved too, with 68 percent of third-graders scoring at grade level, up from 64 percent last year.

The FCAT is key in determining which third-graders are promoted to the fourth grade and whether high school students graduate. Statewide, 20 percent of third-graders scored at Level 1 and may be held back. That's down from 22 percent last year.

Few Changes In Hillsborough

Hillsborough County third- graders showed few changes from last year, although a drop in the average math score put the district behind the state average for the first time in five years.

The average reading scores for Hillsborough third-graders remained at 305 for the second year, matching the state average on a scale of 100 to 500.

On reading, 21 percent of third-graders fell into Level 1, putting them at risk of retention. That percentage is the same as last year and above the state average of 20 percent.

For math, 17 percent landed in the lowest achievement level, but those scores do not count toward retention.

School districts won't know the exact number of third- graders being retained until other assessments are complete and students attend summer reading camps.

John Hilderbrand, Hillsborough's director of assessment and accountability, said he expects about the same number of children will be held back as were this year - about 1,000.

Shaw Elementary had some of the lowest scores in the district, a reflection of a population boom that brought 350 more students into the school from last year, Principal Gloria Kolka said.

The student increase came through school choice, Kolka said, as some students who had been bused to New Tampa schools wanted to return to their neighborhood schools. Other students who didn't choose were defaulted to Shaw, and the school had to hire 31 teachers, some well into the school year.

``We had a lot of training for them, but next year I will be able to place them better,'' Kolka said, explaining that she expects to move some to teaching different grade levels.

Pinellas County saw significant jumps in its third-grade math scores. This year, 71 percent scored at grade level or above, compared to 64 percent last year.

District leaders credit the jump partly to a classroom shift toward teaching material most likely to appear on the FCAT.

``People have yelled and moaned, but when you focus on your target, see what happens,'' board member Jane Gallucci said.

Sixty-eight percent of Pinellas third-graders scored at grade level or above on the reading test, compared with 66 percent last year.

Pasco, Polk Scores Rise

In Pasco County, 66 percent of third-graders were at grade level or higher, compared with 63 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, 21 percent scored at the lowest level on the reading exam, putting them at risk of having to repeat the grade.

Assistant Principal Lane Morris at Wesley Chapel Elementary, one of the best-performing Pasco schools, said much of the credit for his school's stellar performance goes to the teachers, who put in extra time and made reading a priority. Eighty-two percent of third-graders at Wesley Chapel performed at the proficient levels.

``We are lucky as administrators to have the staff we have,'' Morris said.

Districtwide, Polk County had 64 percent of third-graders reading at grade level or higher, compared with 63 percent last year; and their math proficiency showed improvement too, with 63 percent at grade level or higher.

Announcing the FCAT results at a school in Charlotte Harbor that was destroyed by Hurricane Charley, Gov. Jeb Bush said he was awed by the gains, especially in counties affected by the storms.

Education Commissioner John Winn said the department still was sorting through the results to determine whether some high scores were a reflection of low-performing, poorer students leaving districts in the wake of the hurricanes.

``There are some hypotheses that poorer, lower-performing students moved out of the areas, so may have had an artificial bump when you looked at the percentages,'' Winn said.

Reporters Courtney Cairns Pastor, Adam Emerson, Ronnie Blair, Lenora Lake and Allison North Jones contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. Reporter Cheryl N. Schmidt can be reached at (863) 683-6531.

Keyword: Education, for all districts' scores and a school-by-school breakdown.