OSPI Releases State Test Results

Someone at OSPI has a sense of humor.  Their press release is called, "State Test Scores in a Waiverless World." 

Seattle's Test scores  I have to say that those 10th grade scores are looking pretty good for reading and writing:
Reading: 81.2%, Writing 84.5%
Math and Science EOC - looks they are holding steady at about 61-64%, not great.

From the press release:

More than 90 percent of 12th graders in the Class of 2014 passed all of their assessment graduation requirements and younger grades had ups and downs, according to the official score release for the 2014 administration of Washington’s state tests.

“We’re holding steady from last year,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said during a press conference this morning. “Students and teachers have worked hard to get here. At this point, there aren’t any significant changes.”

Results must be seen through a different lens this year. Last spring, the U.S. Department of Education refused to renew Washington’s waiver from some of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), including the reporting of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), for the 2014-15 school year. After a long summer of waiting and wondering, state test results finally reveal which schools met – and did not meet – AYP. 

2014 AYP determinations for a total of 2,176 schools
MET AYP DID NOT MEET AYP
260 schools (11.9%) 1,916 schools (88.1%):
1,401 schools are in a step of improvement
  • 273 are in Step 1
  • 242 are in Step 2
  • 219 are in Step 3
  • 248 are in Step 4
  • 419 are in Step 5


2014 AYP determinations for a total of 2,176 schools
MET AYP DID NOT MEET AYP
260 schools (11.9%) 1,916 schools (88.1%):
1,401 schools are in a step of improvement
  • 273 are in Step 1
  • 242 are in Step 2
  • 219 are in Step 3
  • 248 are in Step 4
  • 419 are in Step 5

MSP proficiency rates by grade (as of August 27, 2014)
GRADE READING MATH WRITING SCIENCE
3 72.2 63.2 -- --
4 70.1 60.9 62.1 --
5 72.6 63.7 -- 66.4
6 72.7 63.6 -- --
7 67.7 57.8 71.1 --
8 71.6 55.9 -- 67.2

Exit exam pass rates by class (as of August 27, 2014)
SUBJECT CLASS OF 2014 CLASS OF 2015 CLASS OF 2016
Reading 94.5% 89.1% 81.1%
Writing 94.5% 89.5% 83.4%
Math 92.1% 83.8% 75.8%
Science (not required) 82.2% 76.3%
MET ALL ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION 90.6% 74.1% 61.9%

Comments

Karen said…
It's interesting that test scores jump dramatically between 8th and 10th grade (by about 10%). Is that due to kids dropping out at 16? I suppose that would depend on when the tests were administered in 10th grade.

It may be heartening that the scores from grades 3-8 are holding roughly constant and not going down dramatically each year.
Karen said…
To clarify, I was talking about state scores, not Seattle scores in particular.
Anonymous said…
Karen, test scores jump 10 percentage points between 8th grade and 10th grade and the only rationale you can come up with is due to dropouts?

--- swk
Charlie Mas said…
I would presume that the improvement in test scores at high school is a result of the fact that the scores actually mean something in high school - a passing score is required to graduate. None of the earlier scores make any difference to the student.
mirmac1 said…
ST headline:

"One Seattle school sees spike in test scores — so state is investigating"

Am I the only one who reads snark in the Times typically biased "reporting"? If they could they would have added:

"ONE Seattle sees spike in test scores - so (of course) the state is investigating this miracle."
Anonymous said…
One interesting change in statewide test results is the overall drop in Geometry EOC pass rates. The requirements have changed so that beginning with 2013-14 graduates, only one math EOC needs to be passed. The number of students taking the Geometry EOC dropped significantly, and the score distribution shifted lower, perhaps because students already passing the Algebra EOC were less likely to take the Geometry EOC.

As far as Beacon Hill, is it really out of the realm that they are measuring meaningful changes, as did Mercer?

parent
Anonymous said…
Am I the only one who thinks maybe it is a good thing that they are rechecking the Beacon Hill scores? Hopefully, they will conclude that everything is fine -- and we can all cheer and marvel at s school that made a ton of promise (and maybe figure out what they did -- if it is something replicable). But if SSD said NOTHING -- and it came out later that there were problems with the test administration, or the grading/reporting of the scores, it would look much worse then -- and I will bet my last dollar that at that point, someone would say -- "Good grief! With that kind of disparity from the prior year, why didn't someone at least check those scores to make sure there wasn't an issue?"

Much better to self report an anomaly than look like you were asleep at the wheel (best case) or complicit in a problem (worst case).

It looks to me like Wedgwood was, in fact a school that made AYP (not that I care, except for negative effects of that dismal and ridiculous law on the District). I don't know if it was alone or not. But it was grimly amusing to go through schools where 98 or 99 percent of kids passed a category (reading, math, etc., only to have a big red NO next to the question of whether that group met the standard (which was 100%) What a total joke!

Jan

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