Parents have a new way to examine how schools are doing in Washington state.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said the new system will help administrators, teachers and parents identify deficiencies in all schools, including those that may get among the best scores.
In February, federal education authorities signed off on the state’s changes as part of transitioning from No Child Left Behind to the new guidelines under Every Student Succeeds Act. Reykdal recently barnstormed the state to tout the coming changes, which soon will allow parents to look up every test score at their children’s school and compare them to other schools in the district and the state. That data became available in a searchable form Friday.
Under the new program, called Washington School Improvement Framework, the formula for which schools get federal education dollars will continue to be based mostly on the percentage of students who receive free and reduced lunches, which is an indication of poverty. State schools officials also will continue to direct some federal money to those schools with scores from standardized testing in math, science, or English language arts in the lowest 5 percent.
While the new system will continue to compile test scores, it will expand the data to show how students tested for three consecutive years. In addition to tracking academic progress, the new system also added attendance, ninth-graders on track to graduation, and advanced-course-taking opportunities as new categories that make up a school’s overall score.
The major portion of a school’s ranking will continue to come from graduation rates and growth based on standardized tests for English language arts, math and science. (Spokesman-Review)
