State Board of Education\u2019s annual \u201cAchievement Index,\u201d<\/a> reveal surprising results for schools in the seven districts of Southwest King County, according to a June 14 WPC media release.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe districts are Kent, Renton, Tukwila, Highline, Federal Way, Mercer Island and Vashon Island.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
WPC is a non-partisan independent policy research organization in Washington state. For more information, visit www.washingtonpolicy.org.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last year Gov. Jay Inslee said, \u201cI\u2019m proposing [that] every school will have a letter grade that will be given and disseminated then to the parents in the district so that we hold ourselves accountable.\u201d Today Inslee continues to call for giving letter grades to schools.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cParents of Southwest King County schools want to know and have a right to know how their child\u2019s school is performing, and this resource gives them easy way to do that,\u201d explained WPC Education Director Liv Finne.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to the annual index, 10 of the 159 schools of the area districts rank \u201cexemplary\u201d \u2014 the top ranking given by State Board of Education officials. The index rates schools as exemplary, very good, good, fair or struggling.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If the Achievement Index used such a scale, \u201cexemplary\u201d would be the equivalent of an \u201cA\u201d grade while \u201cstruggling\u201d would be considered an \u201cF.\u201d Even though the idea of assigning letter grades has wide appeal, state government has yet to adopt the change.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Overall, 25.5 percent of Southwestern King County area schools are in the bottom two categories of the index \u2014 \u201cfair\u201d or \u201cstruggling\u201d \u2014 while 46.5 percent of schools finished in the middle, a rating of \u201cgood.\u201d If the Index used a grading scale of A\u2013F, 72 percent of these schools would receive a \u201cC\u201d grade or lower.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
To view the state’s Achievement Index school ratings online, go to https:\/\/eds.ospi.k12.wa.us\/WAI\/IndexReport. The full Achievement Index covers the 2011\u201312 school year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The best- and worst-scoring schools from the Southwest King County area districts are listed below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kent School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Sawyer Woods Elementary \u2013 Very Good (B)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Cedar Valley Elementary \u2013 Struggling (F)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Renton School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Lindbergh Senior High School\u2013 Exemplary (A)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Renton Academy\u2013 Fair (D)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Tukwila School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Cascade View Elementary \u2013 Exemplary (A)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Showalter Middle School\u2013 Fair (D)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Highline School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Health Sciences and Human \u2013 Exemplary (A)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Beverly Park Elementary \u2013 Fair (D)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Federal Way School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Federal Way Public Academy \u2013 Exemplary (A)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Wildwood Elementary \u2013 Struggling (F)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Mercer Island School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Island Park Elementary \u2013 Exemplary (A)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Lakeridge Elementary \u2013 Good (C)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Vashon Island School District<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Best: Vashon Island High School \u2013 Very Good (B)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Worst: Chautauqua Elementary \u2013 Fair (D)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The annual Achievement Index is a ranking of 2,189 public schools in Washington State based on data compiled by the State Board of Education for the 2011\u201312 school year. It is conducted to determine whether school officials are fulfilling their paramount duty under the state constitution to provide a quality education for every child.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Key Findings:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Only 6 percent of Southwest King County public schools are considered Exemplary<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 25.5 percent of public schools of the Southwest King County area are Fair or Struggling<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Public schools in Washington state receive $10,320 per student per year in operating funds<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Since 1980, education spending (adjusted for inflation) has more than doubled, while the number of students, due to smaller families, has increased by only one-third.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOne potential policy change is adjusting the Achievement Index by using an A\u2013F grading scale,\u201d said Finne. \u201cSuch a change would make it easier for parents to understand how their child\u2019s school is performing. Legislation has already been introduced in the 2013 Washington Legislative session that would accomplish that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Utilizing an idea endorsed by leaders of both political parties, Washington Policy Center (WPC) has published letter grades for Washington state public schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-5135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5135"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}