In a word, 2010 Washington state student assessment test results unveiled in Olympia on Tuesday are “mixed.”
Which made state school Superintendent Randy Dorn happy, in one sense.
Because newly streamlined high school and lower-grade exams last spring replaced the much-maligned Washington Assessment of Student Learning.
With any wild swing in exam scores, news headlines would have read, “Dorn makes tests too easy” or “Dorn makes tests too hard,” the schools chief said.
No worries on that account.
But, there’s plenty to be concerned about, still:
• 10th grade math scores in 2010 dipped further, with only 41.6 percent of sophomores passing the exam.
• 10th grade reading scores were steady, while the pass rate for the writing portion stayed “dead-even flat” at near 86 percent, for a third straight year.
• 10th grade science scores rose broadly, but only 44 percent of students passed the exam — by 2014 a new high school diploma requirement for this year’s incoming 10th-graders.
• At lower grades, pass rates bounced up or down sharply across subjects: “mixed” results, for sure.
Given many teacher layoffs, loss of after-school tutoring or summer school programs and continued threat of state spending cuts during Washington’s economic slide, Dorn felt moved to declare success, of sorts.
“We’re doing the very best possible under the circumstances,” he said. “We’re doing more, with less.”
The exams in grades 3 through 8 incorporate tougher, recently adopted math standards, Dorn said. That and other test changes lead to a muddled, “apples to oranges” comparison of Measurements of Student Progress scores to previous WASL scores. The 2010 results mark a new baseline, he said.
“A fifth-grade kid in 2010 will be expected to know more than a fifth-grade kid in 2009,” Dorn said.
It will take three years of data under the revised exam to sift truly comparable data, he said.
New exam format
Two versions of five-day tests this year replaced the eight-day WASL, launched back in 1997.
Tenth graders now take the High School Proficiency Exam, or HSPE. In grades 3 through 8, students take the Measurements of Student Progress, or MSP.
High school sophomores still must pass the HSPE, or a state-approved alternative in reading and writing, in order to graduate. Starting next spring, high school students must pass end-of-course exams for algebra and geometry to earn a diploma, rather than pass a comprehensive mathematics test.
In all grades, reading, math and science portions lasted one day each, as opposed to two days under the WASL. The writing portion remains two days. Also, about 25 percent of the state’s middle school students took the test online, including several hundred in Clark County.
The exams still include multiple-choice and short-answer questions, but four-point essay questions to prompt responses of a page or longer were eliminated on reading, math and science tests. The writing portion of the exams still has essay questions.
Local scores erratic
Exam results in Southwest Washington mirrored the state’s zigs and zags.
Ridgefield sixth-grade reading pass rates plunged 24 points from 2009 scores, from 85 percent to 61 percent. That far exceeds a 10-point drop recorded statewide.
A few miles north, pass rates for Woodland seventh-graders soared higher in reading and math, by 9 and 15 percentage points — far greater improvement than seen statewide.
In Battle Ground schools, seventh- and eighth-grade math pass rates rose about 9 and 10 percentage points from 2009 levels. It’s not coincidence, said a district official who credits stronger focus and teacher teamwork under an aggressive plan introduced last year.
“It was obvious that it was worthwhile,” said Bruce Kelley, Battle Ground’s director of assessments and research. He praised David Cresap, now principal at Chief Umtuch Middle School, for spearheading the districtwide push that features extensive math study guides and study problems.
Meantime, Battle Ground’s 10th-grade math pass rate dropped nearly 6 points, from 50.8 percent to 45.0 percent. The statewide pass rate slid about 4 points, too.
Evergreen sophomore math scores also dipped. But 61.8 percent of Evergreen eighth-graders passed the science exam, far higher than the 54.4 percent statewide score.
“That’s kind of a celebration for us,” said Marilyn Colliflower, Evergreen assistant superintendent for student learning.
Side effects?
The exam itself will someday play a key role in the annual assessment. Not yet, however.
While thankful that Dorn trimmed total questions in most subjects by about one-third and reduced testing dates from eight school days to five, educators found signs of testing fatigue.
Rather than back-to-back, two-hour testing days for reading, for example, students had a single day this year. Educators found that many toiled two or three hours to complete this year’s exam (there’s no tight time limit) and suggest that lower scores in elementary grades reflect flagging energy.
“It was especially rougher on the younger kids,” said Kelley of Battle Ground.
That’s a fairly simple fix, Kelley quickly added. “It’s different; we’ll deal with it.”
While each subject exam tests a consistent mix of core skills, Kelley emphasized it will take a few more years to regain meaningful year-to-year comparisons.
Presses lawmakers
In Olympia, Dorn spoke of a testing “transition period” for both students and educators.
Fewer exam questions could mean wider pass-rate swings, either up or down, the first few years, he said.
But Dorn said the MSP and HSPE exams are fundamentally sound and rigorous.
He expects more news this week from a 31-state testing consortium that will press for more uniform standards, with Washington taking the lead.
The real answer to sustained student improvement will be full state school funding, Dorn said, a repeat of previous entreaties. The state supreme court will uphold this year’s King County Superior Court ruling, he predicts, building pressure on state legislators to reverse recent cutbacks and to instead increase spending.
That’s despite the current budget crisis, Dorn said.
“We need this state to recommit to education. Even in tough economic times, the best investment is in education,” he said. “I don’t believe we should give kids a lesser education, just because adults are having a tough economic time.”
Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.
