West Valley District Does Well In Wasl Tests

School districts across the Valley found more good news than bad in their recently received state test scores, but West Valley School District found the best news of all.

West Valley’s reading, writing and math scores improved at each grade level on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Those with a jaundiced eye might point out that West Valley’s scores were on the dismal side in 1999. But these improvements in several cases reflect more than just a rebound. In key areas, these WASL scores put West Valley ahead of its larger neighboring school districts, Central Valley and East Valley.

Eighty percent of West Valley’s fourth-graders last spring passed the reading standard; 56 percent passed the math standard. Both those scores surpass Central Valley and East Valley.

“You’re not going to be on top of the heap year in and year out,” West Valley Superintendent Dave Smith said, “but you can’t be on the bottom of the heap year after year, either. … It was a team effort by all the teachers.”

In the East Valley School District, fourth-graders did best in reading; 69 percent passed the standard. All five elementaries passed the state-required goal of improving their initial reading scores by 25 percent by the year 2001.

“That’s really cause for celebration,” said Lu Embrey, assistant superintendent for curriculum. “Another cause for celebration is the number of students we’re seeing just a point or two below the standards. In large numbers, they’re ready to jump over the top.”

East Valley students struggled with their writing, as did those in many districts statewide. Math scores rose for fourth-graders, but remained low for seventh- and 10th-graders. Listening scores were strong for the district, reaching as high as 81 percent for seventh-graders.

Central Valley’s fourth-graders continued steady increases in their WASL scores. Half of the CV fourth-graders passed the tests in three of the four categories, which are math, reading, writing and listening.

In all three districts, seventh graders stagnated in math and to a lesser extent in reading and writing.

Central Valley testing coordinator Geoff Praeger suggested to the CV school board this week that preparing more seventh-graders to pass the math standard will involve a big change in the status quo - something along the lines of adding another daily math class for students who need help.

Tenth-graders in all three districts show an increase in reading scores but a drop in writing scores. Only West Valley 10th-graders rose in math.

West Valley’s increases at the 10th grade level come in large part due to a concerted effort by teachers to produce their students’ best work.

“We appealed to their self-pride,” said Bob Johnson, head of the math department at West Valley High School. That, plus an emphasis on teaching with proper math terminology, and steady practice on WASL-style written math problems, produced surprising results, Johnson said.

At Spokane Valley High School, an alternative program, scores in reading soared to 78 percent, while in listening, 100 percent of the students passed.

As was true in plenty of places around the state, some of the most significant gains came in elementary schools with higher poverty levels, as indicated by higher rates of students on free and reduced lunch.

At Orchard Center Elementary School, with 63 percent of the students on free or reduced lunch, scores rocketed. The reading scores more than doubled and the math scores more than tripled.

What built Orchard Center’s success?

Principal Gene Sementi runs a game plan that fairly bristles with grants, guest teachers and incentives to read, read, read.

For instance, fourth-graders who needed an extra push to reach the reading standard were grouped in a special reading-emphasis classroom. That class held just 18 students, while the two other fourth-grade classes carried 22 students. The extra help and lower numbers paid off. Most of the students in that reading immersion class passed the reading standard.