Originally published August 31, 2010 at 9:19 PM | Page modified August 31, 2010 at 10:32 PM
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Washington schools show mixed results in switch to new standardized tests
After administering the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for 12 years, state school districts always knew how students stacked up compared with the previous year's class — or even a class a decade ago.
Seattle Times staff reporters
PREV
Highlights of the 2010 Washington test results
Results from Measurements of Student Progress in grades 3-8 and High School Proficiency Exam in 10th grade. Not all grades took tests in all subjects.
Percentage of students who met standards:
• Third grade: reading, 72 percent; mathematics, 61.7 percent
• Fourth grade: reading, 67.1 percent; mathematics, 53.6 percent; writing, 61 percent
• Fifth grade: reading, 69.5 percent; mathematics: 53.6 percent; science: 34 percent
• Sixth grade: reading, 64.5 percent; mathematics, 51.8 percent
• Seventh grade: reading, 63.3 percent; mathematics, 55.2 percent; writing, 70.2 percent
• Eighth grade: reading, 69.2 percent; mathematics, 51.5 percent; science, 54.4 percent
• 10th grade: reading, 78.8 percent; mathematics, 41.6 percent; writing, 85.9 percent; science, 44.7 percent
10th-graders: Incoming 10th-graders in the class of 2013 will be required to pass all state exams — reading, writing, math and science — to be eligible for a diploma.
Source: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
By The Associated Press
Seattle-area schools on federal 'needs improvement' list
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must meet a number of academic targets. If schools miss targets, they are judged as "in need of improvement." If they receive funding from the federal government under the Title I program, aimed at raising achievement of students living in poverty, they also can face sanctions. There are five levels, or steps, in the program. Schools don't face sanctions until step three.
STEP 3: MISSED 1 OR MORE TARGETS FOR AT LEAST 4 YEARS
These schools must offer students the chance to transfer to higher-scoring schools, offer outside tutoring to low-income students and face one of a number of "corrective actions."
Title I schools facing sanctions:
• Auburn: Chinook Elementary
• Bellevue: Highland Middle
• Edmonds: Cedar Valley Community School
• Highline: Bow Lake Elementary, McMicken Heights Elementary, Mount View Elementary, Seahurst Elementary, White Center Heights Elementary
• Kent: East Hill Elementary, Jenkins Creek Elementary, Meadow Ridge Elementary, Neely O'Brien Elementary, Scenic Hill Elementary, Springbrook Elementary
• Marysville: Quil Ceda Elementary
• Monroe: Frank Wagner Elementary
• Mukilteo: Challenger Elementary, Horizon Elementary, Olivia Park Elementary
• Renton: Renton Park Elementary
• Seattle: Bailey Gatzert Elementary, Dearborn Park Elementary, Highland Park Elementary, Kimball Elementary, Northgate Elementary, South Lake High, Thurgood Marshall Elementary, Van Asselt Elementary, West Seattle Elementary.
• Snohomish: Emerson Elementary
• Tukwila: Cascade View Elementary, Thorndyke Elementary
Need improvement; no sanctions:
• Auburn: Cascade Middle, Mount Baker Middle, Rainier Middle
• Bellevue: Tillicum Middle
• Edmonds: Brier Terrace Middle, College Place Middle, Mountlake Terrace High
• Enumclaw: Enumclaw High
• Everett: Cascade High, Eisenhower Middle, Everett High
• Federal Way: Lakota Middle, Sacajawea Middle, Sequoyah Middle, Todd Beamer High
• Highline: Gregory Heights Elementary
• Kent: Mattson Middle, Meeker Middle, Meridian Elementary, Meridian Middle, Northwood Middle.
• Lake Washington: Kamiakin Junior, Kirkland Junior
• Marysville: Kellogg Marsh Elementary, Marysville Mountain View High, Totem Middle
• Monroe: Monroe High
• Mukilteo: Olympic View Middle, Serene Lake Elementary, Voyager Middle
• Renton: Hazen High
• Riverview: Tolt Middle
• Seattle: Arbor Heights Elementary, Nova High, Orca K-8, Pathfinder K-8, Roosevelt High, Whitman Middle, Home School Resource Center
• Shoreline: Kellogg Middle
• Snohomish: Centennial Middle, Machias Elementary, Parent Partnership.
• Sultan: Sultan Middle
• Tahoma: Tahoma Junior High, Tahoma High
STEP 4: MISSED 1 OR MORE TARGETS FOR AT LEAST 5 YEARS
These schools must offer students the choice to transfer to higher-scoring schools, offer outside tutoring to low-income students and face "corrective actions." The district must also make plans to restructure the school.
Title I schools facing sanctions:
• Monroe: Park Place Middle
• Seattle: Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center (BOC)
Need improvement, no sanctions:
• Bellevue: Kelsey Creek Home School Center
• Federal Way: Kilo Middle, Totem Middle School
• Kent: Mill Creek Middle
• Renton: Lindbergh High
• Seattle: Ballard High, Interagency programs
• Tukwila: Foster High
• Everett: North Middle, Sequoia High
• Lake Washington: Community School
STEP 5: MISSED 1 OR MORE TARGETS FOR AT LEAST 6 YEARS
These schools must restructure according to the plan as defined under step 4. This may include replacing the principal and other staff members.
Title I schools facing sanctions:
• Highline: Beverly Park Elementary at Glendale, Cascade Middle, Chinook Middle, Hazel Valley Elementary, Madrona Elementary, Midway Elementary
• Renton: Campbell Hill Elementary, Dimmitt Middle, Highlands Elementary.
• Seattle: Aki Kurose Middle, Hawthorne Elementary, Madrona K-8
• Tukwila: Showalter Middle
• Everett: Hawthorne Elementary
Need improvement; no sanctions:
• Auburn: Auburn Riverside High, Auburn Senior High, Olympic Middle, West Auburn High
• Bellevue: Sammamish High
• Federal Way: Decatur High, Federal Way High, Saghalie Middle, Thomas Jefferson High
• Highline: Academy of Citizenship and Empowerment, Global Connections High, Highline High, Odyssey, Pacific Middle
• Kent: Cedar Heights Middle, Kent-Meridian High, Kentlake High, Kentwood High
• Northshore: Bothell High
• Renton: McKnight Middle, Nelsen Middle, Renton High
• Seattle: AS#1 K-8 school, Chief Sealth High, Cleveland High, Denny International, Franklin High, Garfield High, Hamilton International Middle, Ingraham High, Madison Middle, Mercer Middle, Washington Middle, West Seattle High
• Marysville: Cedarcrest School, Marysville Middle, Marysville Pilchuck High, School Home Partnership Program
• Mukilteo: Explorer Middle, Mariner High
• Snohomish: Snohomish High
• Sultan: Sultan High
Source: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
By Katherine Long
After administering the Washington Assessment of Student Learning for 12 years, state school districts always knew how students stacked up compared with the previous year's class — or even a class a decade ago.
But now the test that served as the state's report card on K-12 education is gone, replaced by two new tests that are shorter and, in some subject areas, measure different standards. And state officials are unsure how to interpret the results — calling them a mixed bag, from grade to grade and subject to subject.
State Superintendent Randy Dorn worries that some of the lackluster results could be attributed to K-12 funding cuts, and warns that the situation could be made worse if those cutbacks continue.
"We are going to demand the Legislature meet their constitutional obligation" this year, said Dorn, referring to a clause in the state constitution that requires the state to fund basic education. "I do not believe we should give kids a lesser education because adults have a tougher economic time going on."
Dorn on Tuesday announced results of the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) for grades 3-8, and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) for 10th-graders.
Statewide, fifth-graders did especially poorly overall, with lower passage rates in reading, math and science. Tenth-graders posted weak results in math and science, with fewer than half of all students passing. In just three years, high-school students will have to pass those tests to graduate.
But middle-school students did well, with the number of students passing reading in seventh grade up 4 percentage points, and math up 3.4 percentage points. Eighth-graders made modest gains, as well.
Because math standards in grades 3-8 have been rewritten, the MSP test serves as a new baseline. State officials say the other test subjects can be compared with past WASL tests.
Results from district to district were mixed. In Seattle Public Schools, for example, middle-school passage rates rose more than the state's rates in math and, with the exception of sixth grade, in reading.
But in writing, the state passage rate went up slightly in grades 4 and 7, while Seattle's dropped.
Federal Way officials focused on the new math standards throughout the school year, and had gains in math results districtwide, particularly at the elementary and middle-school levels. But the district's passage rates in reading fell — perhaps because students took longer to finish the test than predicted.
Lake Washington School District's results tended to parallel changes in the state results, although they were generally higher overall.
The state test release also showed that 968 schools did not make adequate yearly progress in 2010 — 317 fewer schools than were on the list in 2009. The federal standard, part of No Child Left Behind, is measured largely by state test results. Schools that do not meet the goals are placed on a list and face increasingly severe sanctions if they do not improve.
One of the most vexing areas, for Dorn, is the low passing rate among 10th-graders in math and science. "If we stay on the same glide path, more than half of student graduation is in jeopardy," he said. Only about 42 percent passed the math standard, and 45 percent passed the science standard.
Students now can graduate even if they fail the math test, but they must pass math classes as juniors and seniors. But incoming sophomores, as it stands now, would have to pass math and science tests to graduate.
Dorn said some districts had to cut money for summer school and after-school tutoring, while staff cuts have led to larger classes. As a result, Dorn said, the most vulnerable kids are not getting the help they need.
"By test scores coming out mixed, or basically being even, that's a real victory," he said. "As resources have been taken away, we've been able to hold our own."
Restoring funding in K-12 education is likely to be an uphill battle this year. The state currently projects a $3 billion shortfall in the next two-year budget, said state Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton, and a big chunk of the shortfall comes from Initiatives 728 and 732, which were sharply reduced for two years by the Legislature but are scheduled to be restored next year.
The initiatives help reduce class size and increase teacher pay. Haigh said it might be necessary to reduce the initiatives for another year.
She said she agrees with Dorn that funding cuts could cause drops in results.
But state Sen. Joseph Zarelli, the ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, was skeptical that test results could be tied to funding levels. "I guess you'd have to break it down by grade levels," he said. "He'd have to show me how he's making that correlation."
Dorn said he and his staff haven't had time to go through the results yet, but they expect to find bigger drops in high-poverty schools, where cutbacks in after-school tutoring or summer school can make a big difference.
Even as the 2010 results mark a transition year for state testing, there's also a chance that the MSP and HSPE will be replaced by a national testing standard in five years.
Dorn's office is seriously considering recommending that the state adopt a national set of learning standards in reading and math known as the "common core" standards. If the Legislature agrees, the state tests would change again to reflect those standards, starting in the 2014-15 school year.
Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com
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