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District report shows long-term gaps on state tests but small gains in math and science
Summary
Evergreen’s chief academic officer presented Smarter Balanced and WCAS results showing a decade-long achievement gap compared with state averages, with modest recent improvements in math and science and plans for more robust assessment systems.
Dr. Brian Fox, Evergreen Public Schools’ chief academic officer, presented a review of summative assessment data Feb. 25, showing a multi-year achievement gap between Evergreen students and the Washington state average on Smarter Balanced (ELA and math) and the Washington Comprehensive Assessment for Science (WCAS).
Fox said summative assessments are given annually and differ from formative assessments that teachers use to monitor learning in real time. He noted that while Evergreen students’ performance is “significantly below the average student in Washington State” over the past decade, the district saw modest improvements in the most recent years: a reported reduction in the ELA gap of 0.7 points, a math gap reduction of 1.6 points and a science gap reduction of 2.1 points when comparing 2023 to 2024 data presented in the meeting slides.
Fox also reviewed student participation in music programs, saying Heritage High School has 80 students in orchestra class, the district has about 451 high-school orchestra students across five high schools, 835 middle-school orchestra students across six schools and more than 400 fifth-grade elementary orchestra students — about 1,700 students participating districtwide in strings programs. He cited research linking music study to cognitive benefits and said the district’s instructional work includes development of an equity-based multi-tiered support system (MTSS) and a comprehensive assessment system that will include a public data dashboard.
Why it matters: State summative test results are used for district planning and comparison; small gains suggest pockets of progress while long-term gaps indicate continued work is needed. The district plans to pair summative and formative data with MTSS and an assessment dashboard to guide improvements.
Fox said the district will continue work on assessment systems and promised a follow-up report at a future meeting; he also said the district will publicly share more data via a dashboard being developed.
