County’s high school juniors struggle with Common Core math test

Published 1:30 am Sunday, August 21, 2016

EVERETT — Most high school juniors in Snohomish County tested at a college-ready level for English this spring but floundered in math, according to state test results.

Results from the 2015-16 school year’s round of Common Core testing — the Smarter Balanced exams — were released last week by the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Overall, statewide scores are up from last year, which was the first year of Smarter Balanced exams across Washington.

Still, no more than 60 percent of students statewide in any elementary or middle school grade level met standards for “proficiency” in English and math. In high school, three-quarters of 11th graders met the standard for English, either as juniors or in scores that rolled over from taking the test as sophomores. They didn’t fare as well in math, where more than three-quarters failed to meet the standard.

Of the 14 school districts that teach high school students in Snohomish County, 11 exceeded the statewide average for the percentage of juniors meeting the standard for English. Mukilteo had the greatest percentage at 88.6 percent. Edmonds, Everett, Northshore, Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Monroe and Stanwood-Camano all were over 80 percent. In Marysville and Sultan, a little less than 70 percent of juniors met the standard. Darrington was a bit below 60 percent.

In math, most local districts came in under the state average. Everett, Northshore, Snohomish, Lake Stevens and Arlington were above it.

The struggle with statewide math exams is nothing new. For nearly 20 years, Washington has required standardized testing. It started with the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. The latest iteration is Smarter Balanced.

From the beginning and throughout the different tests, math has been a challenge.

Juniors who scored less than proficient in math won’t necessarily be barred from graduating on time. The proficiency level is considered “college and career readiness” by the state. The state Board of Education in August 2015 set a lower cut-off score for high school graduation.

Smarter Balanced scores are divided up on a scale of one to four, with three and four being college and career ready. The math score needed to graduate falls in level two.

“There is a difference between taking these assessments seriously, and letting a test define a student,” wrote Ben Rarick, executive director for the Board of Education, in a letter explaining the lower threshold. “No test defines a student.”

The data released last week also includes scores from science exams that are not part of the Smarter Balanced system. For incoming seniors, the math, English and science tests are required to graduate. Science was not required for last year’s seniors.

Sophomores in local districts did well on the science exam, with 10 of the districts having a higher proficiency rate than the state.

English and math tests were taken by third through eighth and 11th graders. There were science exams for fifth, eighth and 10th graders.

Many states no longer use exit exams as a graduation requirement, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said during a press conference Tuesday. In Washington, other graduation requirements have become more rigorous. Students need a year more of math, science and English than they used to, he said.

“I wonder sometimes if we’re really looking at the data or if we just think that an assessment and holding kids accountable … makes us feel good that we have what we think is a high standard,” Dorn said. “But it seems like we keep lowering the standard so that everybody can get over.”

Everett consistently has been above state averages for all grade levels in past exams and Smarter Balanced, spokeswoman Leanna Albrecht said. Everett went through an 18-month process to get ready for the Smarter Balanced test, which included adding Chromebooks to classrooms to allow students to adjust to the technology since the test is given online; and an outreach effort that let parents take the test so they could be a better resource for their kids.

Each high school in the district has a success coordinator and counselors who work one-on-one with students who are not on track to graduate.

“They work with them to identify the barriers that they may be having and develop an individual graduation plan for each student,” Albrecht said.

Those plans can include credit retrieval, retaking exams and looking at one-on-one support in and outside of the classroom.

On Thursday, the district had a ceremony for seniors who didn’t have all of the requirements done in time to graduate in June but finished up over the summer. The ceremony is an important milestone for those students, Albrecht said.

“We realize that Smarter Balanced testing is only one measure of student learning,” she said.

For third through eighth grade, most Snohomish County districts saw higher percentages of students meeting standards for their grade level than the statewide tallies. In the Everett, Edmonds, Northshore, Lake Stevens, Arlington and Stanwood-Camano districts, most or all of the elementary and middle school grades had a higher than average proficiency rate.

Everett saw much higher scores at Garfield Elementary this year compared to last year. Principal Monique Beane credits it to teamwork.

Staff also made reading a focus, talking about it in class and at assemblies and opening the library before and after school.

There still is work to be done, Beane said. That’s true at other schools in the county, too. Every grade level in Marysville fell below the state average for meeting standards, as did most grades in Lakewood, Sultan, Granite Falls and Darrington.

In Monroe, younger students struggled, with third through fifth grade coming in under the state average. However, the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students were above in both subjects. Snohomish students’ strong suit seemed to be math while in Mukilteo English was stronger.

Participation rates play a significant role in proficiency rates, said Robin Munson, assistant state superintendent of assessment and student information. Proficiency rates are calculated based on how many students were expected to be tested. When students refuse, it goes in as a zero and drags down the average. About 12 percent of the state’s class of 2017 have refused to take the English test and nearly 40 percent refused the math test. That’s a higher participation rate than last year’s seniors, nearly half of whom refused to take the English test and just over half of whom refused to take the math test.

Students who refused to take the test in 2015 may have passed previous state tests that meet the graduation requirement. They were allowed to use the other test scores while Smarter Balanced was being introduced.

Districts are expected to send out individual student scores and several plan to make them available through online student and parent sites in the coming weeks.

For more information on district- or school-wide results, go to reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com

11th graders meeting Smarter Balanced standards in 2016