Students across state raise scores in final year of test

Washington ninth-grade students once again earned higher marks than their peers did nationally on an annual basic skills test.

The Iowa Test of Educational Development, also known as the ITED, measures skills in reading, mathematics and language arts.

The state’s high school freshmen have taken the multiple-choice test since the spring of 2000, but this year was the last test due to a legislative decision.

Overall, Washington student scores increased in all three test areas: reading, language arts and mathematics, according to test results released recently by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Scoring in the 50th percentile means a student meets the national average. Washington’s ninth-graders scored at the 58th percentile, on average.

The average overall score for Mead and Central Valley students was 65. Spokane Public Schools students’ average score was 59. Other districts’ scores were Deer Park 61, West Valley 49, Cheney 62, Riverside 59, East Valley 58, Freeman 67, Medical Lake 53, Nine Mile Falls 59, Liberty 54.

This is the sixth and final year for Washington students to take the ITED. A bill passed by the Washington Legislature this year removed the requirement for the state to administer a test such as the ITED.

That decision was related to the expansion of the Washington Assessment for Student Learning exam to test more grade-school children, said Kim Schmanke, spokeswoman for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.