More recognition for our schools . . .

Yesterday, OSPI announced the recipients of the state's highest honor, being recognized for a Washington Achievement Award for 2012.  There were 381 schools identified for this honor and four of them come from our school system.  This is elite company when you consider the number of schools in our state.  Please join me in recognizing and thanking the learning communities of Lake Wilderness Elementary, Rock Creek Elementary, Glacier Park Elementary, and Tahoma High School for this honor.  This is the first year for Lake Wilderness and our High School, the second time for Rock Creek, and Glacier Park has received the honor in each of the four years it has been presented.  Below is a description of the process form the OSPI web site and here is a link to all 381 schools that are being recognized for this achievement.

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. 

From the chart below, you can see two of our schools receiving honors in two categories and the total number receiving recognition in each category.  I also included (thanks to Dawn) the number of schools eligible for recognition in each category to show that these awards are truly an honor.