By Brenda Sexton
The Courier-Herald
Administrators at Plateau area school districts say they are celebrating the successes of student scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test, but are by no means resting on their laurels.
First impressions of the scores released Thursday by the state Office of Public Instruction (OSPI) are favorable to most area students.
Plateau students' successes reflect a trend among Washington's students who, according to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, reached higher levels of achievement on the WASL than ever before. Scores in reading, mathematics, writing and science rose in every grade.
Local fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders were among approximately 220,000 students statewide to participate in the WASL in reading, math and writing. Another 150,000 students in grades five through eight joined the 10th graders in taking the newest section of the test - science.
The WASL is designed to measure how well students are progressing toward meeting the state's academic standards, called the Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs), in reading, math, writing and science. The standards were created by a group of Washington educators and citizens in the mid-1990s to reflect the skills and knowledge students must have to be successful.
Each WASL section is comprised of multiple choice, short answer and extended response questions.
State scores for fourth graders showed 74.4 percent were meeting the standard in reading; 59.9 percent in math and 55.8 percent in writing. Fifth-grade science students results were at 28.2 percent. Statewide, seventh-graders came in at 60.4 percent in reading, 46.3 percent in math and 58.0 percent in writing. Eighth graders across the state were at 39.4 percent in science. Tenth-grade percentages were listed as 64.4 percent in reading, 43.9 percent in math, 65.2 percent in writing and 32.2 percent in science.
Enumclaw makes big gains
Enumclaw School District fourth-, seventh- and 10th-grade students scored at or above the state uniform bar, the target set by OSPI, for the percentage of students meeting the standard in all areas at all grade levels.
"These are the highest scores ever in all areas," district Curriculum Director Chris Beals said.
"We've shown huge growth," Assistant Superintendent Mike Nelson added.
The district's emphasis on reading is paying off with the highest scores in that subject across all grade levels.
Enumclaw's fourth-grade students scored well on the reading assessment, with nearly three-quarters of the district's students meeting the standard - an all-time high in the district.
J.J. Smith Elementary fourth-graders scored the highest in reading at 74.4 percent. Southwood Elementary fourth-graders were right behind at 70 percent, with Black Diamond Elementary kids close on their heels at 67.9 percent.
According to Nelson and Beals, fourth grade math scores remained similar to those of last year. This spring, J.J. students also led the district's fourth-graders in math at 46.3 percent. Southwood students tallied 35.5 percent and Black Diamond came in at 35.8 percent.
Nelson and Beals reported this year's writing scores show an increase over last year's scores. Black Diamond held a district-high 60.4 percent in writing and J.J. Smith had 38.8 percent of its students meeting standard, while Southwood tallied 28.2 percent in writing.
Science scores, new to the format, saw Black Diamond fifth-graders register at 25.8 percent, Southwood at 23 percent and J.J. Smith at 26.2 percent.
Good news for the district came at the secondary level starting at the two middle schools. This year's seventh-grade WASL scores show a significant increase in scores in all areas across, representing all-time high scores in all subject areas, Beals and Nelson reported.
Both Enumclaw Middle School and Thunder Mountain Middle School saw gains in every subject area tested.
Seventh-grade students in Enumclaw scored at all-time high levels on reading, showing an increase of an additional 11 percent of students meeting the standard.
Enumclaw Middle School scored 65.3 percent on reading, 54.1 percent on math and 61.7 percent on writing.
Thunder Mountain seventh graders scored 56.9 percent on reading, 38.3 percent on math, 46.9 percent in writing and eight graders in science 42.2 percent.
Math scores for seventh-graders in Enumclaw jumped from last year's 28 percent to 45.9 percent. Reading improved from 49.9 percent to 61.
The huge gains in math in grades seven and 10.
Beals and Nelson attribute the huge gains in math for grades seven and 10, in part, to the implementation of a new secondary math program three yeas ago.
Enumclaw High School 10th-grade WASL scores also showed a significant increase in all areas and represent an all-time high. This year's group of students not only shows all-time high scores in high school, but also showed 21 percent more students meeting the standard than the same group when tested as seventh graders in 2001.
EHS sophomores recorded WASL scores of 64.4 percent in reading, 49.6 percent on math, 69.7 percent on writing and 31.6 percent for science.
Beals and Nelson note these are "sheer gain" numbers. This year, OSPI made adjustments at the fourth- and seventh-grade level for math and reading, but did not make adjustments for high school scores.
District leaders attribute part of the sophomores' increased scores to better student-teacher-parent communication about the test and sophomores taking the test more seriously. High school students are now required to pass the WASL to earn the state's certificate of achievement for graduation.
More good news for the district is it is no longer listed among "failing" schools under the state's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards. AYP is the state's reading and math goals to meet federal No child Left Behind Act guidelines.
Last year EHS was deemed a school that did not make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) and was placed on probation. Schools that do not meet AYP can face consequences as severe as loss of funding.
This year, EHS starts with a clean slate. AYP is figured through a series of subcells in certain categories. It takes just one "no" in any given box to get an overall "no." EHS's "no" last year was in special education.
Parents in the Enumclaw district will receive individual results for their WASL test takers in the coming weeks. The district encourages parents to discuss results with teaches and administrators.
White River sees progress
White River district curriculum and assessment specialist Paul Page says his first impressions of his district's WASL results are encouraging.
"We've made some real progress," Page said. "Our district saw its highest scores ever in six out of nine categories."
Page and Assistant Superintendent Roger Marlow are expected to give the White River School Board a full report at tonight's (Wednesday) regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the district board room.
For White River, the most impressive results were found at Mountain Meadow Elementary School where fourth graders registered 98.1 percent in reading and 92.5 percent in math. Mountain Meadow students also scored a district-high 77.4 percent in writing. The school's fifth-graders scored 38.5 percent in science.
"Our numbers show 52 out of 53 Mountain Meadow kids scored proficient," Page said. "That's off the charts."
Other White River elementary schools put up impressive numbers. Wilkeson Elementary fourth-graders scored 81.1 percent in reading, 62.3 percent in math and 45.3 percent in writing. Fifth-graders registered 17.3 percent in the first-year science section.
The district's emphasis on elementary reading and math showed up across the board. Foothills Elementary fourth-graders scored 68.9 percent reading, 60.0 percent in both math and writing and 28.4 percent in fifth-grade science. At Elk Ridge Elementary the numbers came in at 75 percent in reading, 68.1 percent in math, 50 percent in writing and 27.9 percent for fifth graders in science.
Only the School of Discovery on the Wickersham campus had numbers that were off. Page said it could be because the smaller enrollment numbers present larger swings in results. School of Discovery fourth-graders tallied 53.6 percent in reading, 32.1 percent in math and 42.9 percent in writing.
"Any time our scores are not making steady progress over time it's disappointing," Page said.
Page said there were pleasant surprises at the middle and high school level. Scores at the middle school were highest to this point in all three areas, he said, with a significant increase in math.
Seventh-graders at White River Middle School brought math scores up to 39.7 percent this spring. Two years ago that number was 15.6 percent. Page credits the implementation of a new math curriculum as part of the success, but also noted there is still room for growth.
White River Middle School seventh-graders scored 55.9 percent in reading and 51.6 percent in writing, with eighth-graders at 26.0 percent in science.
On the down side, WRMS and White River High School are both listed as "no" for meeting AYP. Last year WRMS earned its "no" in special education and still carries that stigma this year, while WRHS has erased its "no" in reading through intervention and tutoring programs, but carries a "no" for special education.
Last year, WRHS was hurt by a WASL protest where students just didn't take the test, registering zeros for the district. This spring, most students took the test.
White River High School sophomores scored 59.2 percent in reading, 34.1 percent math, 52.3 percent in writing and 27.5 percent in science.
The Alternative
For both Enumclaw and White River districts, Collins Alternative Programs did not meet its AYP again this year in math at the high school level.
Collins junior and senior high schools serve students in the Enumclaw, White River, Orting and Sumner districts. This year, seventh-graders made huge gains over last year's students. This spring, seventh-graders scored 37.9 percent in reading, 27.6 percent in math and 31 percent in writing, compared with last year's numbers of 25.9 percent in reading, 3.7 percent in math and 7.4 percent in writing. Collins eighth-graders scored 15.2 percent in science.
At Collins High School, 10th-graders scored 47.1 percent in reading, 12.6 percent in math, 44.8 percent writing and 9.2 percent in science, compared with last year's 33.3 percent in reading, 8.2 percent in math and 31.3 percent in writing.
Carbonado scores
Fourth-graders in the Carbonado Historical School District, which serves kindergarten through eighth-grade students, showed a decrease in results over last year's scores, but were still above state averages in many areas.
Carbonado fourth-graders scored 70 percent in reading, 20 percent in math and 30 percent in writing, compared with 2003 spring scores of 84.2 percent in reading, 57.9 percent in math and 68.4 percent in writing.
Fifth-graders scored 40 percent on science.
In Carbonado, seventh-graders showed higher scores in reading over last year's students, but virtually no difference in math and writing. This year's seventh-graders scored 62.5 percent on reading, 33.3 percent math, 33.3 percent writing, compared with 2003's scores of 47.6 in reading and 33.3 percent in math and writing.
Eighth-graders scored 52.6 percent math.
Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@courierherald.com.
