OLYMPIA, WA – Standardized test scores for Washington public school students improved slightly this year, according to data the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction released Wednesday.
But the scores remain well below pre-pandemic levels, and the test results show nearly a third of students are not meeting grade-level standards in math, while the same is true for about a quarter of students when it comes to English.
There are stark disparities as well, with around half of the students in some racial and ethnic minority groups getting the lowest possible score on the math tests.
“We still have a ways to go,” Superintendent Chris Reykdal said during a press briefing.
He added that growth in the test scores “is now not only exceeding the immediate post-pandemic struggles we had, but it’s at a faster trajectory of growth than even pre-pandemic.”
Reykdal pointed out that across the U.S. and around the world, forces such as social media, economic stress, and the risk of violence in schools are posing obstacles for students.
The state tests, administered each spring in grades three through eight and 10, are required by the federal government. They are designed to assess whether a student is on track for college-level learning without needing remedial courses.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment used by Washington and 11 other states scores students on a 1-to-4 scale based on their test results.
Federal requirements call for the state to report level 3 and 4 scores “as meeting the standard of being on track for college-level learning without needing remedial courses,” Katy Payne, a spokesperson for the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, said in an email yesterday.
The data show that, overall, 50.9% of students are meeting this standard in English language arts and 40.7% in math.
Last year, 50.3% of students scored a 3 or 4 on the English assessment, and 39.7% on the math tests. In the year before the pandemic, those figures were 59.6% for English and 48.9% for math.
Revised approach to interpreting scores
Payne said that in 2024, “after seeing how the state test score results were being mischaracterized across the nation,” Smarter Balanced, the vendor behind the tests, clarified that students who earn level 2 scores are also “demonstrating grade-level knowledge.”
OSPI now emphasizes that scores of 2 and up demonstrate “foundational grade-level knowledge and skills with a limited range of complexity.”
Under this approach, the data shows that 70.9% of students are at or above grade level in English language arts and 63.3% of students are at or above grade level in math.
Reykdal cautioned against equating low standardized test scores with failing academically in a subject, saying the tests are a point-in-time measurement intended to track trends.
He noted student data showing significant variability in their individual scores year-to-year as an example of why the standardized test isn’t a good measurement for an individual student’s success.
“These assessments matter because it gives us important trend data for our state, and the more students assess, the better our accuracy,” Reykdal said. “But for any given student, gosh, if you had a bad day on a Thursday in May … you can get these kinds of results.”
The trend data provided by the tests shows that Washington students are generally performing consistently with, or better than, their peers across the U.S., though Washington’s math scores have been steadily declining in relation to the performance of other states.
Compared to the 11 other states that use the same assessment, last year’s test results show Washington ranked second overall in English and fourth in math.
The data also show that low-income students – defined as students who qualify for free or reduced lunch – consistently score lower than their higher-income peers.
There are achievement gaps for several minority groups as well. For example, while 24.6% of white students scored only a 1 on the math assessment, the same was true for 47.6% of Black students, 53.9% of Native American students, and 56% of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.
“There are student populations that need additional investment,” Reykdal said.
“Those kinds of investments have moved the needle, which is great, but the gap is still very large,” he added.
Legislative request focused on math
In an effort to improve Washington’s math scores, Reykdal said he plans to ask the Legislature for $10 million to fund professional learning for teachers, with a focus on those teaching kindergarten through eighth grade.
“They’re not math majors, and they don’t need to be, but they need targeted instruction on how to move kids, particularly those who are behind in math,” he said.
The funding would also be used to teach schools innovative models for learning math and to buy statewide licenses for some software tools that would be made available to elementary school students.
“It’s time to complement the hard work of our teachers with tools that kids can get excited about and work on at home as well as in the classroom, all while we remind students that foundational work is something they’ve got to be able to do without assistive technology,” Reykdal said.
Reykdal plans to make a separate request in next year’s legislative session for $110 million per year to offset inflationary cost increases for schools.
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