For more than two decades, there has been an increased emphasis on improving academic outcomes for K-12 students across Florida. Such emphasis has resulted in state reform efforts to enhance student academic performance and school accountability. High-stakes testing has been selected as one means for assessing student outcomes and measuring school improvement. Florida is one of the largest states in the U.S., looking to balance accountability and assessment. The Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) is administered each year. Students throughout the state are assessed on their understanding of the subject matter on the FSA. The problem is that the test impacts student graduation. The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine if there is a mean difference in graduation rates between students who were administered the 2013 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and students who were administered the 2017 Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). Using the data retrieved from the Florida Department of Education for school years 2013 and 2017 for 67 public school districts, this quantitative, ex post facto secondary data research used the independent t-test to examine the mean difference in the graduation rates for School Year 2013 (Pre-FSA) and School Year 2017 (Post-FSA) for public high school districts in Florida. Moreover, Welch's t-test was applied to discover the unequal sample distribution variance. The results from this study reveal a statistically significant difference between the mean graduation rates between the two groups of test takers for the public-school districts of Florida, and therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. Recommendations are provided to advise policymakers to research additional factors that impact Florida's graduation rate and make decisions on testing. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]