WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Washington State Board of Education’s September 26 meeting at Walla Walla Community College will include a discussion of possible revisions to the state’s Achievement Index.

The State Board of Education uses the Achievement Index to recognize high-performing schools and to provide schools and districts an opportunity to self-reflect on their own performance trends.

The Index will now evolve to become a central component of the state’s accountability framework. The use of the Achievement Index for statewide accountability is made possible with Washington’s approved waiver from the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind). Under that waiver, state and federally funded interventions and supports will be allocated through a process that utilizes the Index in decision-making.

The current Index provides data on each Washington state school’s proficiency (the number of students who met standard) in the reading, writing, math, and science state assessments. For high schools, the Index provides a value on schools’ success in ensuring students graduate (the extended graduation rate).

By June of 2013, the Index will incorporate additional metrics (such as student growth and career/college readiness indicators) as well as disaggregate data by student sub groups. The addition of student growth data will highlight the improvement rate of students from year to year. This will provide better insights into school and student achievement (e.g. the data may show that though a school may still have a significant student population below standard, that school is making dramatic gains in student achievement from year to year).

Data disaggregated by subgroups (e.g., racial/ethnic, students with disabilities, English Learners, and low-income students) will be included in the school and district performance calculations. Disaggregated data help schools identify and plan for the instructional needs of particular student groups that might not be apparent from aggregate data.

The Board meeting will begin Wednesday, September 26, at 8:00 a.m.

The meeting agenda and materials are now available at: sbe.wa.gov/materials.

Time for public comment will be provided. The public and news media are invited to attend.

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Contact: Aaron Wyatt, Communications and Partnerships Director

About the State Board of Education: The State Board of Education provides advocacy and strategic oversight of public education. The board is comprised of 16 members: five are elected by school board directors, seven are appointed by the Governor, two serve as student representatives, and one serves as a private school representative. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is also a member.

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