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Most elementary school students in Washington were not meeting basic math and reading standards in recent years, according to a new report.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation analysis shows that in 2022, 66% of fourth-graders in Washington were not proficient in reading and 72% of eighth-graders were not proficient in math.
A spokesperson for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction pointed to progress the state is making on other measures and questioned “the methodology and narrative pushed by the Foundation in its communications to the media.”
“National reports like this can sometimes miss important differences in states’ data collections and definitions, leading to comparisons between states that are portrayed as apples-to-apples, but in reality are not,” said spokeswoman Katy Payne. “These high-level comparisons are often not refined enough to capture the most important nuances.”
The foundation’s report is released almost every year since at least 2005 and uses data from the National Assessment of Educational Progresswhich was created by Congress to monitor student performance across the country.
Stephan Blanford, executive director of Children’s Alliance, the foundation’s Washington partner on the report, acknowledged that tests — which are the basis for the proficiency metrics — “are problematic for a number of different reasons.”
“But they give us an imperfect picture of school performance,” Blanford added.
“You could be throwing the baby out with the bathwater if you completely disregard the value of test scores. They will tell us something,” he said.
Data from all fifty states, published annually by the foundation, shows that students in Washington are doing marginally better than the national average. In the United States, in 2022, 68% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading and 74% of eighth graders were not proficient in math.
“We’re moving up in the rankings,” Blanford said. “But I always take that with a grain of salt, because we compete with some states that hardly invest in their children. It’s a low bar.”
Payne praised Washington’s rise in the rankings, saying Washington’s test scores have been on an upward trend for the past two years. “Test scores fell around the world during the pandemic,” she noted.
“A more refined analysis of how our students are doing would measure the recovery since that decline,” Payne said.
While a 50-state report looking at the same data over the past two years is not yet available, Blanford said in his conversations with district leaders and teachers that “the disruptions in schools are at a level that they have never seen right now ”.
The Kids Count Data Book also looks at statistics related to the economy, families and health to create state rankings of child well-being. Despite ranking 14th overall, Washington ranked 26th in education.
According to the report, Washington’s eighth graders also experienced significant losses in math skills during the pandemic. The share of eighth-grade students who were proficient in math fell 12 percentage points from 2019 to 2022.
said Payne Math score recovery increased from 2022 to 2023 and the percentage of Washington eighth-graders taking math in high school is “significantly higher than the national average.”
Blanford said he was particularly concerned about the national rates for students of color and low-income students.
Black and Indian students in particular are having a hard time. In 2022, 89% of American Indian and Alaska Native eighth graders were not proficient in math and the same was true for 91% of black eighth graders. State demographics are not included in the report.
Blanford also noted the number of children who are not in an early learning environment. From 2018 to 2022, 57% of children ages 3 to 4 in Washington were out of school. There is a “close link between involvement in early learning and success in primary and secondary education,” Blanford said.
Payne said the state has achieved record numbers of kindergarten readiness this fall.
“We have made progress in every area mentioned in this report, and we will continue our efforts to advocate and push for more,” she added.
The report comes at a time when Washington parents are increasingly withdrawing their children from public school.
Related: WA charter school performance is comparable to other public schools, the state report said
Blanford said that’s a shame because the fewer children in a public school, the fewer dollars the school gets, leading to a “vicious spiral to the bottom,” he said.
“I’m primarily concerned about parents and children who don’t have a choice of private schools and making sure the schools are successful for them,” Blanford said. “My firm belief is that if you make schools successful for them, you also make them successful for all children.”
The report that first appeared on the Washington State Standard shows that 72% of eighth-graders in Washington are not proficient in math.
