VANCOUVER, Wash. –The Washington State Board of Education’s November 8-9 meeting in Vancouver, at the office of ESD 112, will include an anticipated adoption of performance indicators for Washington’s revised Achievement Index.

Performance indicators are major accountability measures aligned with the goals of the system. As an example, the current Index is primarily an "academic proficiency”-based Index – providing data on each Washington state school’s proficiency (the number of students who met standard) in the reading, writing, math, and science state assessments. For high schools, the Index provides a value on schools’ success in graduation (the extended graduation rate).

Members will likely approve the addition of new career and college-ready indicators and a student growth indicator to the Index. The student growth indicator will give Index users data that shows how students are progressing from year to year. While proficiency data reflects students’ ability to meet a standard, growth data indicates how much students have changed or growth from one year to the next.

The State Board of Education uses the Achievement Index to recognize high-performing schools and to provide schools and districts an opportunity to reflect on their own performance trends. However, the Index will soon evolve to become a central component of the state’s accountability framework. The use of the Achievement Index for statewide accountability is made possible by Washington’s approved waiver from the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind). Under that waiver, state and federally funded interventions and supports will be allocated through a process that utilizes the Index in decision-making.

The Board meeting will begin Thursday, November 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 Partnerships 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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