‘Smarter balance’ test brings mixed results to school district

Students score well on test, but low participation brings consequences.

With the release of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) standardized test results Aug. 17, Mercer Island Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano told School Board members at their Aug. 18 meeting that the district had much to celebrate with how students fared.

Mercer Island students in grades 3-11 scored in proficiency rates between 70 and 80 percent, well above state averages, which hovered in the 40 and 50 percent range.

Mercer Island 10th grade students scored highest, with proficiency rates of over 90 percent. Plano said they will be able to bank their score for their 11th grade year and won’t have to take the English and Language Arts portion of the SBAC.

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But not all news was rosy. While Plano said the 11th grade students who took the SBAC performed well, their scores were overshadowed by the amount of students opting out from the test. The opt-out rate at the high school approached 80 percent, including test refusals and no-shows. SBAC scores for 11th graders across the state were lower overall, and many students opted out of the test at Seattle-area schools including Garfield, Ingraham, Nathan Hale and Roosevelt.

Because of federal rules and regulations, Plano said Mercer Island will be in step one of improvement in its Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measure due to necessary SBAC participation rates. AYP requires participation rates of 95 percent at all grade levels. Plano said the largest factor toward the district not meeting this rate was the high school.

“Because of this status, the district is required to approve a district improvement plan to OSPI and to notify all parents and guardians that the district did not meet AYP,” Plano told the board.

Plano said he signed a letter, along with 30 colleagues from the Puget Sound area, detailing their “dismay over what appears to be the federal government’s failure in not reauthorizing” the Elementary and Secondary Education Act [ESEA], which would be the letter he would send to Mercer Island families.

The letter will likely be mailed out in mid-September.