State Board of Education working to weaken Achievement Index to make low-performing schools look better

The Index was created in 2010 at the direction of the legislature.  For three years now the Index has been informing parents and the public about how well our public schools are educating children. 

The information on the Index goes back to the 2007-08 school year. This is exactly the kind of clear, helpful information Governor Inslee was describing when he said on the campaign trail: 

“We have a quarter of our children who are sort of forgotten children, and that is going to be unacceptable when I’m governor. That’s one of the reasons I’m proposing (that) every school will have a letter grade that will be given and disseminated then to the parents in the district so that we hold ourselves accountable.”  

Just as parents and taxpayers are benefitting from the Index, State Board of Education members have decided to make schools that do a poor job of educating children appear to have a better rating.  At a meeting on May 9th the members quietly voted to water down the performance criteria for school performance. 

State Board members have been discussing weakening the Index for months.  Members have decided to shift the weight of the assessment of schools from whether students are actually learning at grade level, to merely measuring how much they have advanced since the last time their school was assessed.

The message is clear.  When it comes to holding schools accountable, the State Board wants to focus on perceived incremental gains, rather than actual student achievement.  It's like social grade promotion for school administrators.  Perhaps the State Board should change the name of the Index yet again.  It was once called the School Accountability Index, then it was renamed the "Achievement Index," and maybe it next will be termed the "Growth Index."

As it stands now, the Achievement Index is helping students.  Using the state Index scores as a tool, officials in Centralia helped low-achieving elementary schools adopt the teaching practices of Edison Elementary, the highest-performer in the district, as you can read here. 

Around the state, news coverage has reported on the rankings received by local schools, causing discomfort for some local school officials asked to explain why they aren't doing a better job educating children.  Of course, that may be exactly why the State Board feels pressured to change the Index to make low-performing schools look better.

The State Board is next scheduled to meet June 19th, when members will consider the latest proposals to weaken the Index.  I'll report on the outcome of the meeting once that information is available.  In the meantime, for a description of how the Achievement Index works now, and to find out how your school rates, see our recent Policy Note here.