By Marianne Deal Stephens
On Monday, August 18, 2015, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) released the 2014-15 standardized test results. At a press conference, State Superintendent Randy Dorn said that he is pleased with the overall results, but he does not think that the 11th grade Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) should be a graduation requirement.
The Smarter Balanced Assessments, which are aligned with the new Common Core State Standards, are regarded as more difficult than the either the Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) or the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE), which preceded the SBA as the state required public school testing.
Overall, Washington student results were a bit higher than anticipated. The Washington State Report Card provides the following summary:
(Note: click on any chart to enlarge it)
 |
| Washington State SBA Results 2014-15 Source OSPI |
The State Report Card allows users to view by School District. In general, Shoreline School District results are 10-20 percentage points higher than State results:
 |
| Shoreline School District SBA Results 2014-15 Source: OSPI |
The new SBA has both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math portions. State to District comparisons can be seen by subject in the State Report Card bar graphs:
 |
| Washington State ELA Source: OSPI |
 |
| Shoreline ELA Source: OSPI |
 |
| Washington State Math Source: OSPI |
 |
| Shoreline SBA Math Source: OSPI |
In both State and District results, 11th Grade percentages are well below that of other grades. The Report Card shows the following detail for 11th Grade SBA numbers:
 |
| Washington State 11th Grade results Source: OSPI |
 |
| Shoreline 11th Grade results Source: OSPI |
A large number of high school juniors refused to take the SBA in the spring or simply did not show up on test days. Statewide, 49.3% of the 11th grade earned “No Score” on the ELA SBA, and 52.9% earned No Score on the Math SBA. In Shoreline, 39.1% of juniors earned No Score on the ELA SBA, and 43.6% earned No Score on the Math SBA. Of the students who did take the exams statewide, 51.5% met standard on the ELA SBA, and 29.1% met standard on the Math SBA. Of the Shoreline 11th graders who took the exams, 62.5% met ELA SBA standard, and 47.8% met Math SBA standard.
Last week during a Media Roundtable on the SBA score release, a group of state officials, ReadyWA participants, and educators from several Washington school districts emphasized that the Smarter Balanced Assessments are different and more difficult than the previous standardized tests, and so should not be compared to previous student results on the MSP, HSPE, or the WASL. This year’s results establish a new baseline. Results should improve over the years as instruction aligned to the new standards continues. The overriding message during the presentation was that students are not doing worse; we are expecting more since the new standards are designed to help students become career and college ready rather than to simply test basic skills.
When Superintendent Dorn mentioned that the scores are better than expected, he was referring to a 2014 multi-state Smarter Balanced Field Test. Here are the comparisons of Washington State 2015 student scores to the Field Test, which was not broken down by state.
 |
| Washington State ELA field test Source: OSPI |
 |
| Washington State Math field test Source: OSPI |
Currently, the SBA is required for the Class of 2017 to graduate. Reportedly, this class performed well on the ELA SBA, with 74% meeting the career and college-ready standard (detailed results are not available). Students who met ELA standard as 10th graders will not have to retake the ELA SBA as 11th graders.
Superintendent Dorn would prefer that the SBA not be a graduation requirement, and will push for legislation to change the current testing requirements. Dorn explained that “Smarter Balanced tests were designed to be an evaluation tool, not a graduation requirement. We still need legislation to focus the use of the 11th grade tests on proper class placement in 12th grade, rather than as a graduation hurdle.” For more of Dorn’s comments, see the OSPI press release.
Details and comments from the Shoreline School District will be released soon.
Links
- State SBA Results Click on individual grades for a breakdown of the results by grade
- Shoreline SBA Results
- 11th Grade SBA Results
- OSPI August 17 Press Release
- Administration Information explains terms, data sources, scope of testing
With such impressive scores, Shoreline staff should receive the same or better compensation than surrounding school districts. At present, this is not the case. We're going to lose a lot of talented educators to other districts.
ReplyDeleteThe results are abysmal! Even if shoreline scores better than the rest of the state, it's truly pathetic.
ReplyDeleteReports like this are worrysome - A large number of high school juniors refused to take the SBA in the spring or simply did not show up on test days.
If they refuse to show up parents should be fined for anything they miss. I hate to be paying big tax dollars for pathetic results in testing. We spend more on education than many third world countries and the students abroad can surpass even the best rated of our students at Shoreline schools.