YAKIMA, Wash. – The Washington State Board of Education’s May 8-9 meeting at Educational Service District 105 in Yakima will include an exploration of how to effectively incorporate student growth data into a statewide school accountability system.

There are currently multiple ways that school performance is assessed: Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (or No Child Left Behind), the ‘Persistently Lowest Achieving’ calculations, which creates an eligibility pool for the School Improvement Grant program, and the SBE-created Achievement Index. The Washington State Legislature has directed the Board to develop a new plan to better align the federal/state accountability systems "for the continuous improvement for all schools and districts” (RCW 28A.657.005).

The existing accountability systems rely on data from multiple statewide assessments: the High School Proficiency Exam and the grades 3-8 Measurement of Student Progress. These tests measure students’ ability to meet standard in reading, writing, math, and science (though only reading and math are currently included in federal accountability).

The addition of student growth data will highlight the improvement rate of students from year to year. A student growth tool may provide better insights into school and student achievement (e.g. the data may show that though a school may still have a significant student population below standard, that school is making dramatic gains in student achievement from year to year).

The Board’s discussion will center on how to incorporate the ‘Colorado Growth Model’ data into a revised Achievement Index to rate school and district performance, and will begin the morning of May 8.

The Board meeting will begin Tuesday, May 8, at 8:30 a.m.

The meeting agenda and materials are now available at: sbe.wa.gov/materials.

Time for public comment will be provided. The public and news media are invited to attend.

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Contact: Aaron Wyatt, Communications and Legislative Director

About the State Board of Education: The State Board of Education provides advocacy and strategic oversight of public education. The board is comprised of 16 members: five are elected by school board directors, seven are appointed by the Governor, two serve as student representatives, and one serves as a private school representative. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is also a member.

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