The results of this year’s Washington Assessment of Student Learning test are in and local scores span a broad range.
The test was given to students in grades three through 12, who were assessed in the areas of reading, math, writing and science.
Sumner School District
In the Sumner district, most areas were above the state average. Grades three through five and grade seven scored above the state average in reading, while grade six tested average and grade eight came up short of the state average. Tenth grade tested almost 10 percentage points higher than the state average, with 90.4 percent, compared with the state average of 80.9 percent.
In the math category, seventh graders fell short of the state average, while the other grades posted scores above the average. In the writing category, fourth-, seventh- and tenth-graders all scored above the state average.
In science, grades five, eight and 10 scored above the state average.
Finalization of WASL scores is expected to come in September and scores will be mailed to students.
Adequate Yearly Progress is required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and calculated using WASL scores.
This is the first year the district failed to meet standards and it is now in improvement status.
Schools are required to increase the percent of kids who pass reading and math every year. The mandate is for the trend to travel upward so by 2014 all students in all schools pass reading and math. Along the way certain targets need to be met.
“As our teachers and our schools continue to work collaboratively in professional learning communities, our focus remains on improving learning for all students,” Superintendent Gil Mendoza said.
Dieringer School District
Dieringer students scored above the state average in all categories, posting results of between 84.4 percent and 93.4 percent in the reading category for grades three through eight.
The math scores for the same grades are in the range of 66.4 percent and 79.6 percent. The fourth grade group scored 78.5 percent in the writing section and the seventh graders scored 83 percent.
Science scores for the fifth grade group were almost 20 percent above average and the eighth-grade group was approximately 30 percent above average.
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