Lake Washington School District students continue to score above the state average in all areas tested by the Smarter Balanced Assessments.
“Student performance on state assessments is one important measure of academic achievement and progress,” said LWSD Superintendent Dr. Traci Pierce. “We are pleased with our results and our teachers, building administrators will continue to work hard to ensure that every single student in our district is learning, growing, and succeeding.”
Students in grades 3-8 and in grade 11 took the SBA in English language arts and math.
In English language arts, the percent of LWSD students meeting the new standards ranged from 79 percent in sixth grade to a high of 87 percent in 11th grade. At the state level, the percent of students meeting the standard ranged from 53 percent in third grade to a high of 74 percent in grade 11.
In grades 3-8 math, the percent of LWSD students meeting the standard ranged from 74.5 percent in eighth grade to a high of 82 percent in third grade. At the state level, the percent of students meeting the standard ranged from nearly 48 percent in eighth grade to nearly 58 percent in grade three.
This year, the greatest gains for LWSD were in fifth grade math (an increase of 2.9 percent over 2016), and sixth grade math (an increase of 2.5 percent over 2016).
Science scores continued to be measured in fifth and eighth grades by the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP). In LWSD, 86.7 percent of fifth grade students met the standard in 2017. At the state level, fifth grade scores decreased to 63.4 percent at standard in 2017 from 65.3 percent at standard in 2016.
In eighth-grade science, 86 percent of LWSD students met the standard. Eighth-grade scores at the state level decreased to 65.9 percent in 2017 from 67.5 percent in 2016.
Students in the class of 2018, those who were juniors last spring, must pass the SBA English language arts test to satisfy a graduation requirement. Nearly 87 percent of LWSD 11th graders met the standard by taking the test last spring or in 2016 as 10th graders.
Most of this year’s 11th grade students did not take the SBA math test. The class of 2018 may use either the SBA or the end of course (EOC) exams from previous years to meet their state assessment graduation requirement. While they have met the graduation requirement, they counted as a zero or not at standard for state testing purposes if they did not take the SBA this year. Due to such a small number of students taking the test and meeting standard as an 11th grader, the data is suppressed from the state’s annual report.
Similar to the state, the district is seeing gaps in subject areas, in race and ethnicity and in poverty, a release states.
“We are analyzing these gaps to determine how we can target those areas and provide additional support,” the release reads. “It is important that we continue to evaluate and assess our scores to ensure we are meeting the needs of all students.”
