Students Score Higher In Key Tests Schools Chief Applauds Teachers, Students For Better Wasl Scores; District 81 Mirrors State

FOR THE RECORD (Thursday, September 14, 2000): Correction WASL scores incorrect: Bemiss Elementary School’s fourth-grade math scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning have risen from 12 percent passing in 1997 to 72 percent this year. The latter number was incorrect in a story on Sept. 13.

Spokane School District 81’s fourth-grade students posted gains in math, reading and writing on the state’s tough assessment test, mirroring statewide trends, results show.

Meanwhile, students’ test scores dipped in listening on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, both statewide and in District 81.

But state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, who announced the latest test scores at a press conference Tuesday in Burien, Wash., said students and teachers deserve “two thumbs up.

“We’re seeing excellent progress among a broad group of kids from diverse ethnic backgrounds, among boys and girls and in schools across the landscape of Washington state,” Bergeson said. “It’s terrific news for parents, teachers and community leaders who are investing so much in preparing our kids for the future.”

District 81 officials also applauded the results, which they say show that the district’s hard work is paying off. The district, the second-largest in the state with about 32,000 students, has made some of its largest gains in elementary schools with high poverty rates.

“We’re starting to see what has been our goal - that all students, regardless of socio-economic level, can achieve higher levels,” said District 81 Superintendent Gary Livingston.

The assessment test was taken by roughly 215,000 fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders this past spring to test how well students are meeting the state’s tough new standards in reading, math, writing and listening.

The rigorous exam is the assessment arm of the state’s 1993 education reform law.

This marks the fourth year that fourth-graders have taken the WASL, the third year for seventh-grade students and the second year for 10th-graders.

Statewide, students made the largest gains at the fourth grade, an important indicator since last year’s fourth-graders are the first class who have been taught under the higher state standards since they were in first grade.

“I look at the fourth grade (scores) first, because that is where we began,” said Bergeson. “These are substantial gains.”

Even with the gains, however, only 42 percent of the state’s fourth-graders passed the math portion of the test; 66 percent passed reading; about 39 percent made the grade in writing; and 65 percent met the standard in listening. Even fewer are passing all of the subjects.

Last year, just 19 percent of all fourth-graders passed all four subjects. This year’s percentage is not yet available from the state.

Statewide, seventh-graders also improved in math, reading and writing, with a dip in listening scores. In the listening part of the test, students listen to a passage read out loud and then respond to questions.

At the high school level, the state’s 10th-graders had higher math, reading and listening scores than last year’s class, but saw a decrease in writing scores. District 81 mostly mirrored those trends.

Throughout Spokane County, most school districts saw increases in their fourth-grade math and reading scores. Math and reading are considered the most critical content areas that schools devote the most resources to teaching.

School districts have until next spring to reduce by 25 percent the number of students not meeting the state’s fourth-grade reading standard. Districts had to select either their 1997 or 1998 average reading scores as their baselines from which they have to improve. So far, 10 Spokane County school districts have met their goals, with the Liberty and Freeman school districts still working to reach theirs.

Because only a handful of students at the Orchard Prairie and Great Northern school districts take the WASL, district averages do not apply.

A goal for improving math scores also has been set by the state. By the end of 2001, districts must select a baseline. They will be able to choose from their 1998, 1999 or 2000 math scores, and again, must reduce the gap of students failing the subject by 25 percent within three years. The goal will apply to fourth- and seventh-graders.

A state accountability board is developing a system of rewards and interventions for schools that are doing well or struggling, which will be based largely on WASL scores. The test becomes high stakes for the class of 2008, whose students must past the 10th-grade WASL in order to graduate.

While many districts have made concerted efforts to align their curricula with the new state standards and improve teaching across the four subject areas, some district officials remain miffed by their scores.

For example, Mead School District officials are trying to understand why some of the district’s scores have dropped or just held steady.

“The areas where we are down at the secondary level don’t match what we are doing in the classroom,” said Joan Kingrey, Mead’s assistant superintendent for curriculum.

Central Valley School District, while happy with its overall increases in fourth-grade scores, is also wondering about its secondary math scores, which stagnated. In contrast, its secondary students fared better in math on other standardized tests.

“It just shows that this test is looking for different things,” said Geoff Praeger, Central Valley’s testing coordinator.

Unlike certain standardized math tests, the WASL requires students to explain how they arrived at their answers.

Some school officials remain skeptical of the writing portion of the test, which requires students to write essays in response to two different prompts, which change yearly.

“The question I have is whether the state can objectively test something as subjective as writing across 296 districts across the state,” said Livingston, District 81’s superintendent.

While Bergeson commended districts for their progress, she also conceded that there is plenty more work to do across the state.

While test scores are improving among all racial and ethnic groups, major achievement gaps still exist between minorities and whites, she said.

“The gap is out of the closet and the WASL may be the messenger, but you don’t kill the messenger,” she said. “You close the gap.”

Despite gains, low scores continue to be correlated with poverty, she said.

“We are out to say poverty is not an excuse for a child not to learn,” Bergeson said.

District 81, where more than half of its elementary students qualify for free and reduced lunch, already is starting to see the gap close.

The district has seen some of its largest gains in its 15 elementary schools that receive federal “title” dollars to offset the effects of high poverty.

At Beemis Elementary School, for example, where 85 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch, fourth-grade math scores have continued their climb from 12 percent passing in 1997 to 48 percent this year, surpassing the state and district average. In reading, the school’s scores have climbed from 28 percent passing three years ago, to 65 percent this year.

“You are seeing our poverty level increase each year, but our scores continue to improve,” said Joe Kinney, District 81’s assessment supervisor.

Despite the challenges ahead and criticisms of the WASL, Bergeson said the state must stay the course.

“These are hard assessments and that is why people worry about them,” she said. “But these are the right assessments for the 21st century.”