Despite a red flag raised on tenth-grade science scores, Edmonds School District officials said they are generally pleased with the results of the 2003-04 Washington Assessment of Student Learning exam scores released Sept. 1.
“I think we’ve had outdated materials for kids,” district assessment manager Nancy Katims said of the district’s failure to meet the science standard. “We’re beginning to adopt new high school science materials this year.”
She added that district officials also plan to focus a significant amount of professional development time around using those tools.
The WASL tests reading, writing and math skills and is given annually to fourth-, seventh- and tenth-graders. New this past year was the addition of a science WASL given to eighth- and tenth-graders, and the state’s decision that achieving standard on all levels of the WASL is a graduation requirement for the class of 2008.
Beginning with the 2005-06 school year under state mandate, a single group such as special education students failing to meet AYP standards on any portion of the WASL two years in a row would require a district to provide additional teacher training, create district improvement plans and offer to transfer students to other schools in the district.
On a positive note, Katims pointed to the improved scores in seventh-grade reading. Several years ago, the district was not meeting their expectations on that portion of the exam, Katims said. Since then, and a lot of district resources and additional professional development between elementary and middle-school teachers was put toward the subject.
“We’ve tried to create an opportunity for articulation across the grade levels,” Katims said, referring to coordination of curriculum. “And hard work pays off when you really put attention to something.”
In addition, the district also raised their tenth grade writing scores from 60 percent to 72.2 percent, meeting state standard this year, Katims said.
District staff, teachers and principals will spend the next few weeks digesting the WASL data; a school board study session regarding the scores is scheduled for October.
To view WASL and AYP results for individual schools, go to the OSPI Report Card site http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/.
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