Summary of Most Recent Statewide Test

EDU 6160 bPortfolio Post 7                            Ian Lewis                                 November 20, 2016

Summarize the most recent statewide test for a grade level of your choosing, noting any peaks and valleys on subscores.

The University Place School District (UPSD) uses the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) to assess students in math and English Language Arts (ELA). The topic of test scores has been the discussion at various district, multi-school, and individual school meetings. As background information regarding the district, there is just one other intermediate school in addition to Narrows View. Traditionally, it has been the case that the other school has scored higher on the SBAC than Narrows View. It would also be of importance to note that while both schools are equally diverse, the other school has regularly served a smaller percentage of students with free/reduced lunch than Narrows View (OSPI 2016).

At one of the first staff meetings, we were given the district SBAC score summary for % meeting standard for 2015 and 2016, and instructed to briefly review and analyze them before discussing our findings in small groups. I pointed out that, as traditionally was the case, the scores for the other school (grades 5, 6, and 7) were an average of approximately 5% higher than those of Narrows View. However, I also pointed out that, while the other school’s scores were consistently higher, they were also rather consistent of not growing much year to year. In contrast, Narrows View scores showed higher growth of % meeting standard between years. For the ELA SBAC scores for the seventh grade, for example, Narrows View increased from 72.9% meeting standard in 2015 to 81% meeting in 2016 (8.1% growth) while the other school decreased from 83.8% meeting standard in 2015 to 81% meeting standard in 2016; overall, between all grades and over the course of two years, the increase in % meeting standard at Narrows View was 14.3%, while that of the other school was less than half this increase, at 6.3%. Such a pattern may be the result of any one or more of various factors.

While the other school is generally higher across all grade levels with % meeting standard, this higher percentage may represent a plateau. While students may be above grade level, they then do not appear to progress further. The overall higher average of % meeting standard may be a result of smaller % of students with free/reduced lunch. The lack of growth between years could represent multiple situations. Student diversity across years could be a factor. So too could be less effective teacher presentation of material and differentiation practices. While lower students at the other school may be higher in comparison to those at Narrows View, it may be possible that less effective teaching and differentiation strategies contribute to a stagnation of progress. Despite the lower percentage of % meeting standard, Narrows View shows greater growth, which could suggest teaching strategies are more effective, or student engagement is higher, or both, because one tends to cause the other. Thus, this is something to appreciate and continue to try to replicate. With higher scores as a district in general in comparison to other neighboring districts, UPSD places certain value on high stakes testing such as SBAC. As discussed by the guest speaker last class, Dr. Bishop, these tests provide useful data if we use the data wisely. It’s one thing to just note scores as higher than others. It’s another thing to differentiate and analyze trends in the data and create a reflective discussion about how/why such patterns exist and what can be done to change or replicate them.

Reference List:

OSPI (2016). School Report Card. Electronic source,

< http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?schoolId=2157&OrgType=4&reportLevel=School >, accessed November 20, 2016.