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Report Card Names State’s Best and Worst Schools – 60 Percent of K-12 Schools are ‘Fair’ or ‘Struggling’

Using State's Own Figures, Washington Policy Center Draws a Conclusion - Money Isn't Everything

 

Brentwood Elementary School: Where everyone used to be above-average. 

 

OLYMPIA, Feb. 7.—An official state school report card that hasn’t gotten much attention outside of education circles is being touted by the Washington Policy Center as evidence that money isn’t everything.

            Sixty percent of the state’s K-12 schools are rated as “fair” or “struggling,” the figures show. It names the state’s best and worst schools. And the free-market think tank calls it evidence that the big increases in school spending for education reform haven’t had a whole lot of effect. Doesn’t seem like the state hasn’t found the answer yet, it says, after years of trying.

            The “school accountability index” is a product of the State Board of Education, measuring the performance of the state’s 2,011 schools in academics and other measures. But the state has talked about aggregate numbers. It has been used by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to reward high-achieving schools across the state. But the rest of ’em? Somebody had to ask for the data, and that’s what the Policy Center did.
            “What’s really interesting about the index is that nobody’s published the actual names of the schools until now,” said Finne, the Policy Center’s director of education.

Naturally, Finne says the state stats bear out many of the arguments the Policy Center has been making about education. But readers might find something else just as interesting – they can now measure their local school’s performance against the rest of the state, on what is perhaps the most detailed grading system the state has yet devised.

            The results may surprise you. And don’t worry. We’ll name a few names.

 

            Allows Look-Up of Individual Schools

 

            The process is a little tricky, and the state’s big spreadsheet isn’t exactly user friendly. What the Policy Center adds to the picture is an instruction manual that guides users through the process and offers a link to the state figures. The launch point is on the Policy Center’s website.

            A few minutes’ perusal reveals that the state spreadsheet really isn’t set up for mere mortals, that you really do need to read the directions – and that maybe there’s a good reason the general public hasn’t heard much about the state program, three years after the rating system began.

            But here’s an example of the shocking kind of information you can find if you keep plugging away. This reporter looked up his own alma mater, Spokane’s own Brentwood Elementary School, where the entire darn student body used to be above average.

            According to the state’s official rating system, Brentwood must have gone downhill sometime after the Nixon Administration. It is rated as “fair.” And all kidding aside, its overall score does seem to have slipped dramatically in the last three years, almost a full point. Makes you wonder what’s going on with those Brentwood Stingers.

 

            Offers Detailed Look

 

            The state rating system uses a one-to-seven scale, and anything below 4 is considered “fair,” anything below 2.5 is considered “struggling.” The rating system incorporates state test scores in subject areas, graduation rates, improvement and “peer group” measures of similar schools. It also measures the performance of low-income and non-low-income students, one factor that has been thought to have a major bearing on the performance of schools. And it provides the results in each category.

             Turns out the low-income factor is not as significant as many think, Finne said. And it also calls into question some of the big assumptions behind the state’s education reform movement.

 

            Draws Conclusions

 

Since 1993 the state has enacted some 80 school reform programs. The emphasis has been on enhancing current school efforts. School spending in Washington has doubled since 1980, adjusted for inflation, while the number of students has increased only a third. And yet 60 percent of schools, with 59.4 percent of the state’s 594,000 students, rank in the bottom two categories.

“Just trying to spend more money on schools hasn’t worked,” Finne said. “We need a different approach for schools.” The Policy Center urges alternative reforms that so far have met huge resistance from the public-education establishment – things like school-choice and charter schools.

            One obvious question – how can one draw a conclusion about the success or failure of a long-term movement when the assessment program started only started in 2009?

            There are other measures, Finne says, like the National Assessment of Educational Programs, which show Washington student test scores have remained relatively flat. Fourth-grade reading scores, which predict success in schools later, showed 27 percent of students were proficient or better in 1994, and just 33 percent in 2009.

 

            Take it From the Governor

 

And for support, Finne turns to none other than Gov. Christine Gregoire, who rolled out her own new education reform plan last month, after the state’s embarrassing performance in the national competition for Race to the Top for education grants.

Gregoire told reporters: “Right now I’ve been in this job six years, I’ve spent six years trying to get the education system in the state of Washington to work. And finally I’ve realized it doesn’t work, because there’s no system.

“Duh, Gregoire. There’s no system.”

 

            The Honor Roll

 

            Here are the state’s top-performing schools – the eight schools that earned a perfect score of “7”:

            1) Alternative Education Program, Walla Walla School District

               2) Contract Learning Center, Grandview School District

               3) Futures School, Lake Washington School District

               4) Garfield Al Palouse Elementary, Garfield School District

               5) Lacrosse High School, Lacrosse School District

               6) Mary Walker Alternative High, Mary Walker School District

               7) Marysville School District Special Education, Marysville School District

               8) Secondary Options, Tumwater School District

 

            Study Hall

 

            And here are the ones that need to stay after class – the 38 that earned the lowest score of “1”:

            1) Bayview Elementary, South Whidbey School District

               2) Bridgeport Aurora High, Bridgeport School District

               3) Chewelah Alternative, Chewelah School District

               4) Clark Co Detention Center, Vancouver School District

               5) Columbia Virtual Academy, Kettle Falls School District

               6) Columbia Virtual Academy, Orient School District

               7) Columbia Virtual Academy, Valley School District

               8) Discovery, South Kitsap School District

               9) East Grays Harbor High, Elma School District

               10) Edmonds Career Access, Edmonds School District

               11) Family Link, Vashon Island School District

               12) Freeman CVA School, Freeman School District

               13) Glacier Valley High, Lake Chelan School District

               14) Grant Co Detention Center, Ephrata School District

               15) Griffin Bay School, San Juan Is School District

               16) Home Based, Tacoma School District

               17) Homeconnection, Oak Harbor School District

               18) Homeworks, Cheney School District

               19) Hutch School, Seattle School District

               20) Interagency Detention School, Seattle School District

               21) Loon Lake Homelink Program, Loon Lake School District

               22) Meridian Parent Partnership Program, Meridian School District

               23) Mount Baker Academy, Mt. Baker School District

               24) NW Learning Center, Everett School District

               25) Oak Grove, Clover Park School District

               26) Oasis Alternative, Orcas Island School District

               27) Omak Alternative, Omak School District

                28) Palouse Junction High, North Franklin School District

               29) Private School Services, Seattle School District

               30) Republic Parent Partner, Republic School District

               31) School for the Blind

               32) School for the Deaf

               33) Shoreline-Monroe High, Monroe School District

               34) Skykomish Elementary, Skykomish School District

               35) Special Ed Preschool, Eastmont School District

               36) Support School, Federal Way School District

               37) Tri-Tech Skills Center, Kennewick School District

               38) Unassigned Special Ed, Edmonds School District


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