County schools receive state Achievement Awards

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and State Board of Education Chairman Jeff Vincent recognized schools receiving the Washington Achievement Award at an awards ceremony in Covington, Wash., April 30.

A total of 381 schools received awards.

There were several local winners.

Gar-Pal High School, Rosalia High School and St. John-Endicott High School were recognized for Overall Excellence as was Jennings Elementary in Colfax, LaCrosse Elementary and Rosalia Elementary.

In math, Garfield earned recognition as did LaCrosse High School and St. John-Endicott.

St. John Elementary earned the distinction in science as did Garfield Elementary, Gar-Pal High School and LaCrosse High School.

Gar-Pal was also honored for Extended Graduation Rate as was Colton School and Rosalia Elementary and Secondary.

Pullman High School was recognized for Closing Achievement Gaps.

The Washington Achievement Awards, based on Washington’s School Achievement Index, recognize elementary, middle/junior high, high and comprehensive schools. Schools are awarded using performance from 2010 to 2012 on statewide assessments in reading, writing, math and science, as well as graduation rates.

“We’re thrilled that the Achievement Awards have come to mean so much to schools and districts across the state,” Vincent said. “It’s important to us at the state level to ensure that our work benefits everyone, and the award and index do exactly that.”

This year the Washington Achievement Awards have been combined with the awards and accountability criteria in the ESEA Flexibility Waiver. The “High Progress” category replaces the “Improvement” category from previous years.

State Superintendent Dorn praised this new collaboration.

“Schools and communities expect state and federal governments to work together on accountability,” he said. “We’re grateful that the Flexibility Waiver has given us a chance to align our accountability efforts with the federal government’s expectations. This will streamline both systems over time and provide a better picture of how our schools are doing.”

Washington’s School Achievement Index rates all schools according to specific outcomes and indicators from 2010 to 2012. The five outcomes are student performance in statewide assessments in reading, writing, math and science tests, as well as the school’s extended graduation rate, which includes those students who took longer than four years to graduate.

Those outcomes are each measured using four indicators: 1. Achievement of students who are not from low-income families; 2. Achievement of students who are from low-income families; 3. Achievement of a school when compared to “peers” (schools with similar student characteristics, such as the percentage of students who have a disability, are learning English, are designated as gifted, come from low-income families, and are mobile); and 4. Improvement in the achievement of all students combined from the previous year.

The average of the resulting 20 measures comprises the overall index.

The Overall Excellence award is given to the top five percent of all elementary, middle, high and comprehensive schools across the state (based on two-year averages) and Title I eligible or participating schools that meet the highest performing designation according to the ESEA Flexibility Waiver. Schools with high numbers of gifted students (in comparison to schools of similar demographics) are also eligible to receive the Overall Excellence Award – for which only schools with an income/ethnicity achievement gap of less than 2.5 are eligible.

The OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing K-12 education in Washington state.