Washington Elementary Wins State Achievement Award for Third Consecutive Year

For the third year in a row, Washington Elementary is a recipient of the 2015 Washington Achievement Award for Reading Growth.

“It’s certainly a great honor,” says Washington principal Keith Collins, “because you’re placed in the top 5% of all elementary schools in the State of Washington.”

“The Achievement Awards recognize schools and educators making a difference in student outcomes,” said Isabel Muñoz-Colón, State Board of Education Chair.  “Award recipients are schools that have made measurable progress helping students prepare for college, career, and life.”

The awards use the State Board of Education Revised Achievement Index and are based on statewide assessment data for the three previous years. The Achievement Index measures school performance, emphasizing improvement and recognition.

Collins says he and his staff have spent a lot of time learning about the Achievement Index to better understand it, and to understand how the state is measuring students. Then they focus on sub-groups of students who may struggle with reading and language arts, such as special education, low income or bilingual students. The teachers and intervention specialists know exactly who those students are, and they monitor their progress, as they do all students, so they can step in and help when any student struggles.

“The big thing for us has been taking that data we have on each of those students, and then providing them with intervention that specifically targets their specific sub-skill deficiency,” explains Collins.

The Washington Elementary team has achieved being in the top 5% statewide in reading growth for three years despite the fact that there have been three different state assessments to measure reading achievement, and a new reading curriculum was introduced in the district this year.

“It’s been a real team effort,” says Collins.

The award-winning schools will be honored during a ceremony on May 10 at Union Gap School in Union Gap School District—258 schools earned Washington Achievement Awards for 2015.