Eight District schools to receive Washington Achievement Awards

Eight Shoreline schools are receiving Washington Achievement Awards for 2012. The Washington Achievement Awards, now in their fourth year, are sponsored by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. Award winners are selected using the state’s Achievement Index and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver.

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

Shoreline Schools are being recognized for being top performers in these categories:

• Overall Excellence: Lake Forest Park and Shorewood
• Science: Brookside, Highland Terrace, Lake Forest Park and Parkwood
• Closing Achievement Gaps: Briarcrest, Highland Terrace, Parkwood and Shorecrest.
• High Progress (Title I eligible or participating schools only): Ridgecrest.

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 Randy 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.”

The award-winning schools will be honored during an award ceremony on April 30 at Kentwood High School in Covington.

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:

• achievement of students who are not from low-income families;
• achievement of students who are from low-income families;
• 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
• improvement in the achievement of all students combined from the previous year.

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

Learn more about the Washington Achievement Index

Learn more about the Washington Achievement Awards