Bainbridge schools see perfect marks in some student assessment areas, and room for improvement in others

Students in Bainbridge Island public schools have earned high marks on Washington state performance assessments, but district officials acknowledged that more work needs to be done to understand why some student math scores are still lagging.

August 27, 2013 8:51 pm

Students in Bainbridge Island public schools have earned high marks on Washington state performance assessments, but district officials acknowledged that more work needs to be done to understand why some student math scores are still lagging.

On Monday, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released the scores for the 2013 administration of the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) for grades three through eight, and High School Proficiency Exams (HSPEs) and End-of-Course (EOC) exams for students in high school–level courses.

Middle school students on Bainbridge Island did especially well in algebra.

In EOC exams in algebra, 100 percent of students in grades seven and eight met standards, the Bainbridge Island School District reported. In geometry, 100 percent of students in grades eight and nine met standards.

At the district level, the district said 96 percent of students met the EOC standards in algebra and 98 percent in geometry.

In the biology EOC exam, 100 percent of 11th-grade students met standards.

Ninth-grade students demonstrated near complete understanding in this assessment, with 99 percent meeting standards.

In the 10th grade, 90 percent of students met standards.

On the 10th grade HSPE assessments, 96 percent of students met standards in reading and 97 percent in writing.

District officials also noted that third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students demonstrated a high degree of proficiency, with 80 to 91 percent of students meeting standards in MSP subjects (reading, math, writing and science).

Officials with the Bainbridge Island School District said Tuesday that while they have much to celebrate, schools need to improve understanding and instruction in a few subjects or grades where the number of students meeting proficiency standards has declined.

The district said there will be research and analysis on the decline in the number of eighth-grade students who met the MSP math standard, and what can be done to support and improve student learning in that and other groups.

Students are required to pass a reading HSPE; a writing HSPE; and one math EOC, either in algebra I/integrated math I or geometry/integrated math II.

Statewide, more than 90 percent of 12th-graders in the Class of 2013 met all three requirements.