KENNEWICK, Wash. – The Washington State Board of Education (SBE) will review the progress of schools in Required Action and consider academic performance audit findings of newly designated Required Action Districts (RAD) at the May 7-8 board meeting in Kennewick.

What:      State Board of Education Board Meeting

When:      8:30 am to 5 pm, Wednesday, May 7
                 8:00 am to 3:30 pm, Thursday, May 8

Where:     Kennewick School District Office
                 Board Rooms B & C
                 1000 W. Fourth Avenue
                Kennewick, WA 99336

Districts recommended for required action have at least one school that has been identified as in greatest need of improvement. RADs select a federal or state intervention model, create a required action plan of improvement (to be approved by the SBE) and receive differentiated support.

RADs designated in 2011 (Soap Lake, Onalaska, Renton, and Morton school districts) have shown significant growth and gains in the state’s new accountability system. Proficiency in both reading and math has increased steadily at each of the schools over the past three years. The board will discuss their achievement, growth and index scores, as well as an assessment of progress report.

The board will also hear from the Soap Lake principal and superintendent. In addition to increased reading and math proficiency scores, Soap Lake Middle/High School has achieved growth that is higher than the state average. In fact, their three-year combined reading and math median Student Growth Percentile is higher than all other grade 6-12 schools in the state. 

Newly designated RADs (Tacoma, Marysville, Yakima, and Wellpinit school districts) will soon submit their required action plans. To be approved, the plans must address concerns identified in the academic performance audit findings. At this meeting, the board will review the audit findings, which identify possible reasons for a RAD school’s low performance and lack of progress. This will prepare the board to consider approval of the plans at a special meeting in June.

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: Sarah Lane, SBE Communications Manager, (360) 725-6501

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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