The Washington Achievement Awards (WAAs) recognize outstanding school performance in seven categories, such as increases in math scores on state tests and English language acquisition. The awards have been held jointly by the State Board of Education (SBE) and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), in collaboration with the state Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee, since 2009.

In January 2018, the U.S. Department of Education approved Washington’s Every Student Succeeds Act Consolidated Plan. A major component of the plan is the new Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF). Released in March 2018, the WSIF replaces the state Achievement Index, which had been used to determine the WAAs. The framework evaluates schools in a more comprehensive manner. It measures as many as nine categories, such as attendance rates and completion of ninth grade classes.

Because this is the first year of the framework, the SBE and OSPI have decided to suspend the Achievement Awards for 2018.

Also, as a result of the changes in the state’s accountability framework, existing Required Action Districts (RADs) designations were removed this year. Previously, based on three years of state testing data, a district was designated as a RAD when it included at least one school that was persistently among the lowest achieving in the state. The Board and OSPI are working together on a revised framework to support districts with schools among the lowest achieving in the state.

The SBE and OSPI encourage local recognition of school success this year. They intend to resume joint recognition of schools and RAD designation in Spring 2019.

Randy Spaulding, SBE Executive Director
Chris Reykdal, Superintendent of Public Instruction