Most WASL scores continue to improve in Valley schools

State test scores for school districts across the Spokane Valley varied this year, but overall most schools continued to show improvement.

Students at Ponderosa Elementary School made the greatest leap in math on this year’s Washington Assessment of Student Learning, with 79 percent of its fourth-graders meeting state standards, up 28 percent from last year.

The test results released Sept. 1 reflect the work of students from this spring when students in grades four, seven and 10 took the WASL, the state’s primary indicator for academic progress. The test is connected to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which set the goal of having every child proficient in reading and writing by 2014.

The highest elementary math score was earned by East Valley’s Continuous Curriculum School, with 91 percent passing.

Eighty-four percent of the fourth-graders at Progress Elementary passed in math, up from 13 percent last year.

Two schools had 100 percent of its fourth-graders meeting standards in reading this year.

Seth Woodard Elementary students came up from 88 percent last year to 100 percent his year, while fourth-graders at East Valley’s CCS, came up from 85 percent.

Students at both schools tend to be considered higher-achieving students, and some test scores are based on a smaller population of students in specialized learning environments, such as the West Valley School District’s parent-involved SPICE program now housed at Seth Woodard.

McDonald Elementary School came close to 100, with 94 percent of its students meeting standards, up 9 percent from last year.

All Spokane Valley seventh-graders made gains in reading, with Central Valley and Freeman middle school students increasing their scores by nearly 10 percent.

Tenth-graders at the majority of the high schools had higher math scores than their counterparts last year. Fifty-two percent of West Valley High School students met standards in math, up from 43 percent last year.

Central Valley High School students had the highest math, and reading scores. Eighty-two percent of 10th-graders passed in reading, up from 73 percent last year, while 59 percent met state standards in math, up 7 points from last year.