Schools
Issaquah and Lake Washington District Students Score Better Than Peers in State Assessment Tests
The test results for students in the Issquah and Lake Washington school districts show results that are higher than the state
Students in the and outperformed their Washington state peers in all areas of the 2010-2011 state assessment tests, according to data released Tuesday by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Students no longer take the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), which was the longtime measure for how students were learning the state standards. The state assessment tests have been reformulated into the the Measures of Student Progress for grades 3-8 and the High School Proficiency Exam for grade 10.
In nearly all of the areas, the percentage of Issaquah School District students who passed their exams was 10 percent or more above the statewide average.
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Issaquah School District students showed improvement over 2009-2010 in most areas. Students in fifth-, eighth-grade and 10th-grades passed at better rates in science compared to 2010-11. Seventh-grade passing rates for reading were the lowest in all categories for the district, registering at 74.3 percent and down from 79.1 percent for 2009-10.
While satisfied with the overall numbers, Issaquah School District officials will use the results to help struggling students improve, spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said.
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"We are pleased with the high percentage of students who continue to excel above standard, but we are most interested in using our assessment data to keep driving the system forward for all students," she said in a statement.
"We need to identify and support those students who may be struggling, and we need to ensure instruction is rigorous and challenging for all levels of students."
In many areas, the percentage of Lake Washington School District students who passed their exams also was 10 percent or more above the statewide average.
The district also showed improvement over its 2009-2010 scores in most areas, with the exception of third- and fifth-grade reading, which showed a decline of less than one percentage point, and seventh-grade reading and math, which dropped from rates of 81.1 to 74.5 percent and 77.7 to 74.0 percent, respectively.
Lake Washington District spokeswoman Kathryn Reith said the district's 6.6-percent drop in seventh-grade reading mirrors a 7-percent drop in the state average over the same time period for the same subject and grade level, which likely points to an anomaly with the exam, not a problem with the capability of the district's students.
"Obviously we'd rather see higher scores, but that’s not such a worrisome thing," she said.
Reith pointed out that was the only comprehensive high school in the district to earn the Adequate Yearly Progress status, under the No Child Left Behind Act. She called it an accomplishment. Many view the Adequate Yearly Progress as a measuring stick for accountability.
Lake Washington officials also noted that students in the district did well in science - and above their peers in the state. "Our elementary teachers have worked deliberately to teach science process skills and writing about science in physical, life and earth/space sciences," Superintendet Chip Kimball said in a statement.
"By looking carefully at the data to determine where their students are weak and where they are strong with regard to the state science standards, they have made science a strength in our district."
For more detail on Issaquah and Lake Washington numbers, click on each link to look at the district report card prepared by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The newly-released numbers include the new math End of Course tests that are designed to be taken directly following a high school student's algebra or geometry class.
The new math tests were redesigned and given last year for the first time to address complaints that the old high school WASL math tests were not clear and were often not related to the actual classes that students were taking.
"The results from the end-of-course exams are encouraging, but we still have plenty of work to do to increase our math scores," State Superintendent Randy Dorn said in a statement.
"I believe the first-time passing rates are improved from the days of the old math WASL for two primary reasons: teachers have told me our new math learning standards are clearer and students are taking the exams at the end of their respective classes."
Editor's note: The Issaquah School District has posted a statement on its website with more comments about how its students fared on the tests. The Lake Washington School District also has posted information its website, as well as a statement about the Adequate Yearly Progress results.
Issaquah School District vs. State
Grade Level State Reading Issaquah Reading State Math Issaquah Math State Writing Issaquah Writing State Science Issaquah Sciene 3rd Grade 73.1% 85.7% 61.5% 81.1% 4th Grade 67.3% 84.8% 59.3% 84.6% 61.4% 78% 5th Grade 67.6% 83.7% 61.2% 81.9% 55.6% 80.3% 6th Grade 70.6% 84.5% 58.8% 81.9% 7th Grade 56.4% 74.3% 56.9% 83.8% 71% 87.5% 8th Grade 68.6% 81.8% 50.3% 75.5% 61.5% 83.6% 10th Grade 82.3% 94.7% See EOC below 86% 96% 49.7% 77.9%10th Grade Math End of Course
State Issaquah Year 1 62.4% 86.2% Year 2 72.9% 90.9%Lake Washington School District vs. State
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