August 28, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Redmond, Wash. – With high average WASL scores, Lake Washington School District (LWSD) met the standard for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 49 of 59 areas under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), according to preliminary information released today by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. In most of the 49 areas, which include subject areas (math and reading), three grade-spans (3-5, 6-8 and 10) and student subgroups such as race or income groups, students scored significantly above the targets.

Because AYP requires that all subgroups meet or exceed all of the targets, the district did not meet AYP this year. However, the district has not entered “improvement” status. That would be the case if the district did not make AYP for two consecutive years in all three grade-spans in any subgroup for the same subject area. Statewide, 57 districts have entered “improvement” status. Of the ten largest school districts in the state, Puyallup and Lake Washington are the only two that have not entered “improvement status.”

The target levels of the percentage of students who must meet the WASL standards for schools or districts to meet AYP rose this year. Washington state raises this target every three years. Thus, AYP was more difficult to reach. Last year, Lake Washington School District made AYP in 55 of the 59 areas.

The areas of concern for the district include special education, Hispanic students, and low-income students. Special education students in elementary schools and junior high schools did not meet the target for WASL scores in both reading and math. This year, low-income students in the elementary schools did not meet the standard for math although they did meet it for reading. Low-income students in junior high did not meet the standard for both math and reading. In addition, this year, Hispanic students in junior high did not meet the standard in math and reading.

“We’ve been working for the last two years on improving our special education services,” noted Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent. “These results draw our attention to additional work we need to do with low-income and Hispanic students at the junior high level.”

School Improvement Status
Schools that do not meet AYP targets for any subgroup in a specific subject two years in a row go into Improvement Step 1. Only those schools that receive federal Title I funds, however, face specific consequences each year they are “in improvement.” This year, four Lake Washington Schools entered Improvement Step 1. Only one, John Muir Elementary School, is a Title I school and faces the consequences. Muir must develop an improvement plan and offer students the choice of transferring to another school. Three other schools, BEST High School, Kirkland Junior High and Kamiakin Junior High, all are in step one but do not face these consequences. Statewide, 390 schools are in Improvement Step 1 this year.

For Muir Elementary, limited English students did not meet the targets in both reading and math, and low-income students did not meet the target in math only. Muir did meet the targets in 24 subgroup/subject areas. Too few students at BEST High School took the WASL, so they did not meet the participation requirement. Kirkland Junior High did not meet the target for special education students for reading and math but did meet the target in 19 subgroup/subject areas. Kamiakin Junior High did not meet the target for special education students, Hispanic students, and low-income students for reading and math but met the targets for 19 subgroup/subject areas.

In addition, Community School is in Step 3 of Improvement because too few students took the WASL test. Parents at this choice school have expressed disapproval of standardized testing. Community does not receive federal Title I, Part A funds, and does not face consequences as a result.

“Most students at these schools singled out for improvement status are succeeding” noted Dr. Chip Kimball, Superintendent. “But we want every child to succeed and will work hard to make that happen.”

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About Lake Washington: Lake Washington School District is a high-performing public school district serving Kirkland, Redmond, and Sammamish, Washington. It is the sixth largest district in the state of Washington, with over 23,000 students in 50 schools.