Continued improvement in math shown; writing scores down
Redmond, Wash. – Lake Washington School District students
scored above state averages on state standardized tests, performing particularly
well in mathematics. Math scores improved in five grades and the two high school
end of course exams and fell in parallel with state scores in grade six.
“Our staff and students have worked hard in mathematics to improve scores,” noted Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “In most grades, we are seeing a clear upward trend over the last five years.” Read More>>
District math scores improved in all three elementary grades tested. Third grade math showed the most improvement, rising from 81.6 to 83.4 percent at standard. State scores remained about the same. Fourth grade gained over 1 percent, and the increase from 80.2 to 81.5 percent represented the third straight year of increases. State scores rose even more, from 59.3 percent to 62.5 percent. Fifth grade improved slightly, rising from 81.5 percent to 81.9 percent while state scores fell 1.2 percent to 62.6.
At middle school, sixth grade math scores fell at both the state and district levels. District scores fell 2.0 percent from 81.7 to 79.7 percent, erasing most of last year’s gains but remaining well above the scores from 2009 to 2011. State scores fell about the same amount, by 2.1 percent. District seventh grade scores followed last year’s 6.6 percent increase with another increase of 3.6 percent, rising from 80.7 percent to 84.3 percent. That’s more than 10 percent higher than the 2009 score of 73.5 percent. State scores for seventh grade rose from 59.2 percent to 63.7 percent. Eighth grade math scores increased from 73.1 percent at standard to 74.9 percent. State eighth grade math scores, on the other hand, fell from 55.4 percent to 53.2 percent.
On the End of Course exams in math, 88.7 percent of district students were at standard on the Math year 1 exam compared to 80.7 percent at the state level. For EOC Year 2, 95.0 percent of district students were at standard compared to 89.4 percent statewide.
Science scores in fifth grade in Lake Washington rose from 87.0 percent to 87.9 percent, building on last year’s 6.5 percent gain. State scores rose .2 percent in fifth grade science, from 66.3 percent to 66.5 percent. Eighth grade scores slipped statewide and in Lake Washington. District scores fell from 84.9 percent to 82.9 percent while state scores fell from 66.4 percent to 64.9 percent. On the new End of Course biology exam, 92.5 percent of Lake Washington students were at standard, compared to 81.7 percent at the state level.
“Our staff and students have worked hard in mathematics to improve scores,” noted Dr. Traci Pierce, superintendent. “In most grades, we are seeing a clear upward trend over the last five years.” Read More>>
District math scores improved in all three elementary grades tested. Third grade math showed the most improvement, rising from 81.6 to 83.4 percent at standard. State scores remained about the same. Fourth grade gained over 1 percent, and the increase from 80.2 to 81.5 percent represented the third straight year of increases. State scores rose even more, from 59.3 percent to 62.5 percent. Fifth grade improved slightly, rising from 81.5 percent to 81.9 percent while state scores fell 1.2 percent to 62.6.
At middle school, sixth grade math scores fell at both the state and district levels. District scores fell 2.0 percent from 81.7 to 79.7 percent, erasing most of last year’s gains but remaining well above the scores from 2009 to 2011. State scores fell about the same amount, by 2.1 percent. District seventh grade scores followed last year’s 6.6 percent increase with another increase of 3.6 percent, rising from 80.7 percent to 84.3 percent. That’s more than 10 percent higher than the 2009 score of 73.5 percent. State scores for seventh grade rose from 59.2 percent to 63.7 percent. Eighth grade math scores increased from 73.1 percent at standard to 74.9 percent. State eighth grade math scores, on the other hand, fell from 55.4 percent to 53.2 percent.
On the End of Course exams in math, 88.7 percent of district students were at standard on the Math year 1 exam compared to 80.7 percent at the state level. For EOC Year 2, 95.0 percent of district students were at standard compared to 89.4 percent statewide.
Science scores in fifth grade in Lake Washington rose from 87.0 percent to 87.9 percent, building on last year’s 6.5 percent gain. State scores rose .2 percent in fifth grade science, from 66.3 percent to 66.5 percent. Eighth grade scores slipped statewide and in Lake Washington. District scores fell from 84.9 percent to 82.9 percent while state scores fell from 66.4 percent to 64.9 percent. On the new End of Course biology exam, 92.5 percent of Lake Washington students were at standard, compared to 81.7 percent at the state level.
“Science continues to
be a strength in Lake Washington, although we will review our eighth grade
scores,” noted Dr. Pierce.
District reading
scores tended to rise at the elementary level. Elementary grades three through
five all rose in reading, with increases of 2.8 percent, 1.5 percent and 2.5
percent of students meeting the standard respectively in grades three, four and
five. State scores also rose in all elementary grades.
District scores and
state scores were mixed in the middle grades. Sixth grade scores remained about
the same, falling by .2 percent to 85.1 percent for district students and rose
by .8 percent at the state level to 71.4 percent. District seventh grade student
reading scores fell by 3.2 percent, a year after they rose by 12.7 percent, with
84.1 percent of students at standard. Scores also fell, by 2.5 percent, at the
state level, to 68.7 percent. District eighth grade scores remained about the
same, falling by .2 percent to 83.3 percent. State scores at that grade fell 1.0
percent to 66.2 percent at standard. In high school, district reading scores
fell .5 percent but remained within the range of recent years at 92.7 percent.
State scores rose from 81.1 percent to 83.5 percent.
District
writing scores fell in two of three grades tested, contrasting with last year’s
gains. Fourth grade writing scores for the district remained relatively flat,
gaining just .3 percent at 80.4 percent of students at standard. State scores in
fourth grade writing gained a little more, rising from 61.4 to 62.1 percent.
Writing scores for the district’s seventh graders fell from 88.8 percent to 87.4
percent while state scores stayed exactly the same, with 71.0 percent at
standard. District tenth grade writing scores fell to 93.7 percent, down from
95.2 percent, while state scores fell slightly, from 85.2 to 84.9
percent.
We are supposed to be pleased that collectively the students in the Lake Washington School District did better than students from across the state on the MSP, the state's standardized test. Let's remember that these MSP scores represent the number of students who passed the tests - and it also represents the number of students who failed. For 4th grade math, the district's 81.5 percent is certainly better than the state's 62.5 percent, but when we translate this into how each individual student fared on the 4th grade math exam, the numbers aren't so impressive.
ReplyDeleteFor every 5 fourth graders in the Lake Washington School District, 1 student is failing math. For every 10 seventh graders, 3 are failing math. As a parent and volunteer in the district, I can tell you that when students fail the 4th grade math MSP, they are very far behind. When 7th graders fail the math MSP, they are far more likely to drop out. In 2011, when my child was a 5th grader at Horace Mann Elementary, there were a number of students who had failed the 4th grade MSP math test given the previous school year. Horace Mann had no formal plan for addressing failing students, so we inquired if supplemental funds were available from the district to target students with failing MSP scores. We were told that there was no money available "due to budget cuts." Eventually, an ad-hoc group of parents ended up tutoring the failing students to try to get them up to speed. This is no way to provide educational assistance to students who need help the most.
What will the district do for those students who failed the 2012-2013 MSP? What about the students who passed - will the district provide advanced learning opportunities for those students who received 4s? What about the students who received 3s? What is the purpose of standardized testing if the Lake Washington School District does not use the scores to target improvement? Is the only reason the school district does testing because it's a state and federal requirement? The tone of this press release contains a complacency that implies that the district is pleased with the testing results. But the numbers tell the story: 20% of LWSD 4th graders and 30% of 7th graders failed the math MSP test that was given last spring. BRAGGING ABOUT A 20-30% FAILURE RATE IS NOT IMPRESSIVE. It's alarming!
And while we're talking about the MSP, why does it take so long to get test scores? Other standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, ISEE, etc) are all returned electronically in a matter of weeks. Why do we have to wait until the END of the summer or even after the following school year has started to receive test scores? How can parents and school administrators plan?