A School of Distinction
Dayton Schools Named "Schools of Distinction"
Dayton's High School and Middle School rank among the top 5% in improvement of WASL scores over six years.
by Ken Graham
Dayton High School and Dayton Middle School have both been recognized as "Schools of Distinction" by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington State. Both schools ranked among the top five percent in improvement of WASL scores over six years.
On October 10, Dayton School Superintendent Rich Stewart, along with the principals and three teachers from Dayton High School and Middle School, traveled to a high school in Des Moines (near Seattle) to receive the awards. The awards and banners they received are now on display at the schools.
This is the first year the "School of Distinction" awards have been given in Washington. The awards were given to the five-percent of schools in the state (86 schools out of more than 1,700) that achieved the greatest improvement in WASL math and reading scores between 2001 and 2007. These included 51 elementary schools, 20 middle schools and 15 high schools. The awards were given for improvement in test results of students in grades 4, 7 and 10.
According to Superintendent Stewart, the Dayton awards are the result of a concerted effort in recent years to focus much more attention on the basic reading and math skills of students at all levels. Teachers Shelly Franklin and Mary Pryor attended a summer workshop in 2006 that provided methods for teachers to help students focus more on improving their skills in these basic subjects, and thus their scores on WASL tests.
WASL tests are now given to students in all grades. But the state uses scores from grades 4, 7 and 10 as their benchmarks for tracking the progress of students in elementary, middle and high schools, respectively.
As an example of Dayton's improvement, the web site of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction shows that 89% of last year's Dayton 10th graders met the state standard in the reading test. This compared to only 39% of Dayton 10th graders meeting the standard during the 2001-2002 school year. Statewide, about 81% of 10th graders met the reading standard last year, compared to 59% in 2001-2002. Tenth grade math scores, for Dayton and state-wide, were considerably lower, but Dayton saw significant improvement there, too.
Detailed test result information for all subjects, for all school districts in the state, is available online at
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us
In the upper left-hand corner is a drop-down menu where individual school districts can be chosen.
Copyright (c) 2007, Blue Mountain News