Assessment

Washington’s NAEP Reading Scores Remain Flat

maureen — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:06:34 -0500

Yesterday, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released state level reading scores for the 2009 school year. The NAEP scores are often recognized as the “nation’s report card” as it is the only standardized measure that allows for comparison between student test performance nationwide.

The 2009 NAEP reading scores not only serve as a national benchmark for how Washington state students are performing but also is a forecast of student mastery in other subjects. Research indicates that reading and literacy comprehension is a critical link to student achievement in other curriculum areas--specifically, math and science.

NAEP SCORES	2007 NAEP Scores (500-pt scale)		2009 NAEP Scores (500-pt scale)
NAEP SCORES	Washington State	National Average	Washington State	National Average
Fourth Grade	224	220	221	220
Eighth Grade	265	261	267	262

Washington’s reading scores indicate the state students are neither leading nor trailing in their reading comprehension skills. However, the question must be asked: Are we really content with our students scoring “just average”?

Washington students are demonstrating minor gains and even small losses in reading. Clearly, the data indicates that reforms that increase the rigor in the classroom and ensure that the best teachers and principals are educating our students are needed in Washington. Specifically, we encourage the state to enact the following provisions that are designed to raise student achievement:

• Adopt the internationally benchmarked Common Core standards and aligned assessments.

• Include student growth data as a significant factor of teacher and principal evaluation models.

• Use evaluation data to serve as the primary factor in all staffing, tenure, retention and compensation decisions.

• Commit to using student growth data for all students in tested and untested subjects and grades.

Washington’s NAEP 2009 reading scores are a clear call to action for state education reform. The state must not be content with its mediocre scores, but instead strive for our students lead the nation and the world in reading, math and science comprehension.

Washington State Reading Achievement Gap
Reading Grade Four: Average Scores by Race
	State Average	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian
2009	221	229	209	201	221	212
2007	224	229	206	206	232	205

Reading Grade Eight: Average Scores by Race
	State Average	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian
2009	267	273	245	248	272	254
2007	265	270	247	247	268	252

Click on the images below to view summaries of Washington's NAEP performance.

4th Grade Reading 8th Grade Reading

View national and state scores at www.nationsreportcard.gov.

FOX Covers Dorn's Math and Science Delay

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:11:39 -0600

Yesterday morning, FOX News covered Supt. Randy Dorn's proposed math and science delay and the message was clear: Backing down on standards at a time when most states are raising them not only hurts our state, it hurts our students.

Delay math and science graduation requirements, again? We don’t think so.

maureen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:59:55 -0500

Supt. Dorn’s plans to request a delay of the state’s math and science assessment graduation requirements met opposition from multiple papers over the weekend. For nice takes on the issue, check out the two editorials below.

Tacoma News Tribune: No more delays for math requirement
The Daily News: Time to stop waffling on WASL requirements

Or don’t take their word for it, ask State Board Chair Mary Jean Ryan:

"It is frustrating and it is very disappointing to keep talking about delay," Ryan told the Seattle Times.
Every time the state has delayed the new high school graduation requirements, progress on improving instruction has slowed, she said. Any plan to delay the graduation requirements should be coupled with a plan for accelerating progress, she added.

WASL Replacement Plans Move Forward

maureen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:26:15 -0500

Curious about how Supt. Dorn's plans to replace the WASL are shaping up? Me too. For the most up-to-date thinking on Washington's assessment transitition--including shortened responses and soon-to-be online testing--check out today's release from OSPI.

But, in case there was any confusion on the status of graduation requirements:

"Replacing the WASL, however, does not eliminate the state high school graduation requirements, which, among other requirements, call for high school students to pass the reading and writing state exams and to either pass the math test or earn two credits of math after 10th grade. Students can also meet the assessment requirement by passing other state-approved alternatives."

At least that's settled.

Massachusetts does what Washington can only dream

maureen — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:07:17 -0500

And I’m not talking about winning sports teams. Well, maybe a little bit, but I digress.

In case you missed it last week, Massachusetts education leaders announced a plan to inject a reality check this fall into the "good class vs. bad class" debate by tracking the performance of individual students as they advance from one grade to the next. The new measurement could shed light on who is falling short -- teacher or pupil -- and lead to fundamental changes in the way students are taught.

According to the Boston Globe:
Under the current system, the state judges a school's success by comparing its MCAS scores at each particular grade level to the scores posted by that grade the year before. The English and math MCAS tests are given in grades 3 through 8 and in grade 10. (Just like Washington)
Using the new tool, the state will augment that analysis by examining the performance of individual students or classes of students over the period of several years, starting in the third-grade. (Not at all like Washington)

Why is this a good idea? Let us count the ways. Tracking individual student performance over time:

Leads to earlier interventions for students who appear to be lagging behind;
Allows the state to monitor the growth of students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds;
Helps education leaders identify schools making huge leaps in student performance, even if a certain school is performing below the state average; and
Reports on whether or not a student is truly on track to reaching proficiency by predicting future scores.

While we’ve played around the edges of this sort assessment reform in Washington, we simply haven’t gotten our acts together—wow, guess the sports metaphor really does work—to create system which delivers this kind of invaluable information. One hopes that as OSPI explores how best to improve Washington’s assessment system, they’ll consider the incredible potential systems like Massachusetts is creating, hold for our state’s students and teachers.