The League of Education Voters has released of the fourth Citizens’ Report Card on Washington State Education, giving the state an overall ‘C’ grade. The report card was first published in 2006. Since then, the state legislature passed landmark education reform legislation in 2009 and 2010, formally stepped in to the early learning arena, and made headway on policy around high school graduation requirements.
But according to LEV leaders, these measures have not resulted in better in outcomes for students. Third grade reading scores, math proficiency rates, and high school graduation rates have inched up a few percentage points, but within those gains are examples of the achievement and opportunity gaps still present in Washington. On every chart in the Report Card where data is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the same two groups of students are above the state average and the same three are below.
While 78 percent of white third graders read at grade level, only 52 percent of Latino third graders do.
In eighth grade math, 46 percent of white students are proficient, while just 16 percent of African American students are.
And 76 percent of white students graduate from high school on time, compared to 53 percent of Native American students.
Overall, report grades for Washington’s education system have flatlined.
2009
2011
Invest in early learning
C+ (78%)
C+ (78%)
Prepare all children for college, work, and life
C+ (77%)
C+ (77%)
Focus on math, science, and engineering
C (75%)
C- (71%)
Prepare everyone for the 21st century job market
C- (70%)
D+ (69%)
Invest in what works
D+ (69%)
C- (71%)
Click here to View the 2011 Report Card.
