March 27, 2006
The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) maintains data on school districts and schools.
I found the OSPI Washington State Report Card data to be interesting.
Rather than download all the schools or school districts, I picked a few regional ones: Tenino, Rochester, Oakville, Elma, Adna and Raymond. I have compiled some of the data (listed below) and available as a separate document here, as Oakville comparisons.
I would encourage Oakville voters to look at the data and use that as they decide how to vote in the April special election.
Oakville schools show the highest dropout rate; lowest graduation rate; lowest 7th grade reading, math and writing accomplishments; but the per student revenue, expenditures and teaching expenditures are the highest of all the schools in the region.
Dave Palmer
April 18, 2006
Following a brief and friendly meeting at the Oakville School, my materials are updated to include the schools chosen by the Levy Committee in their comparisons (mailed to all residents in Oakville School District).
The Levy Committee included Elma and Rochester, as well as Lake Quinault, South Bend, Wishkah Valley and Yelm.
With the addition of these 4 additional school districts the prior Oakville rankings changed only in Per Student Revenue and Per Stutdent Total Teaching Expenditures (Oakville now ranks second instead of first). All other measurement rankings stayed the same.
April 19, 2006
Further school communication indicates that it is appropriate to include the 10th Grade WASL results and the Free Lunch Program statistics.
Oakville has the 2nd highest student participation in the free lunch program (70.7% participate). In the 10th Grade WASL results Oakville's statistics indicate improvement over the 7th grade results. Among this group of schools Oakville would rank 6th in writing, 7th in math and 3rd (and above state average) in reading.
Readers are encouraged to talk with the school officials, review their own information and above all, VOTE.
| (footnote to table) | 1 | 1, 2 | 1, 2 | 1 | 1, 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Category | Adna | Elma | Oakville | Raymond | Rochester | Tenino | Wash. State | Lake Quinault | South Bend | Wishkah Valley | Yelm |
| Enrollment | 579 | 1937 | 280 | 549 | 2084 | 1401 | - | 265 | 602 | 208 | 4936 |
| Special Ed. (%) | 8.2% | 15.6% | 16.3% | 16.2% | 13.6% | 2.4% | 12.3% | 22.9% | 12.2% | 3.8% | 11.5% |
| Annual Dropout Rate (%) | 2.7% | 6.3% | 11.4% | 6.2% | 4% | 6.8% | 5.8% | 2.1% | 1.2% | 2.4% | 3.4% |
| Free or Reduced Price Meals (5) | 24.6% | 38.2% | 70.7% | 49.5% | 45.5% | 35.2% | 35.9% | 75.6% | 58.5% | 24% | 39.1% |
| On-Time Graduation Rate (%) | 88% | 72% | 30% | 67% | 74% | 69% | 70% | 86% | 95% | 81% | 64% |
| 7th Grade Reading (%) | 80.5% | 72% | 37.5% | 56.1% | 45.7% | 65.2% | 69% | 50% | 56% | 90% | 71.7% |
| 7th Grade Math (%) | 36.6% | 50.4% | 16.7% | 42.1% | 19.2% | 50.6% | 50.8% | 22.2% | 40% | 40% | 49.1% |
| 7th Grade Writng (%) | 61% | 62.4% | 26.1% | 54.4% | 37.3% | 57.3% | 61.2% | 44.4% | 38% | 55% | 55.7% |
| 10th Grade Reading (%) | 81.4% | 60.3% | 78.3% | 66.7% | 58.8% | 70.2% | 72.9% | 61.9% | 59.1% | 83.3% | 72.7% |
| 10th Grade Math (%) | 59.1% | 29.9% | 30.4% | 33.3% | 27.0% | 31.1% | 47.5% | 28.6% | 50.0% | 58.3% | 43.4% |
| 10th Grade Writing(%) | 84.1% | 41.3% | 52.2% | 68.6% | 45.2% | 48.3% | 65.2% | 52.4% | 50.0% | 66.7% | 61.3% |
| Classroom Teachers | 34 | 123 | 33 | 46 | 112 | 96 | - | 29 | 48 | 16 | 270 |
| Total number of core academic classes | 239 | 250 | 39 | 102 | 199 | 211 | - | 127 | 139 | 29 | 1331 |
| Per Student Total Revenue | $8002 | $7479 | $11158 | $9625 | $8037 | $7571 | $7658 | $14028 | $9330 | $10851 | $7280 |
| Per Student Total Expenditures | $7902 | $7170 | $11316 | $9455 | $7857 | $7954 | $7598 | $12680 | $9407 | $11380 | $7124 |
| Per Student Total Teaching Expenditures | $5292 | $5198 | $7493 | $6479 | $5423 | $5231 | $5266 | $8189 | $6531 | $7373 | $49031 |
1) School districts chosen by me in original presentation
2) School districts also chosen by Oakville Levy Committee in their comparisons
3) School districts chosen only by the Oakville Levy Committee in their comparisons
May 11,2006
The Chronicle on Wednesday May 10, 2006 published the results of an evaluation by Standard & Poor recognizing outstanding academic improvement. You can check the source Standard & Poor's 'School Matters' at www.schoolmatters.com
12 Washington School Districts Named Academic Outperformers by Standard & Poor's NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services today recognized 12 Washington school districts as academic "outperformers." is worth reading! Academic achievement levels were compared with the percentage of economically disadvantaged students because the two indicators are often correlated.
The 12 outperforming districts include Bainbridge Island School District 303, Bellevue School District 405, Cheney School District 360, Colville School District 115, Lopez School District, Mercer Island School District 400, Orcas Island School District, Odessa School District, Pe Ell School District, Rosalia School District 320, Selkirk School District 70 and Tekoa School District 265.
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| Enrollment | |
246 | 514 | 325 | 373 | 206 | - |
| Special Ed. (%) | |
1.6 | 0 | 10 | 10.6 | 12.6 | 12.3 |
| Annual Dropout Rate (%) | |
5.5 | 2 | nr | 2.1 | 1.7 | 5.8 |
| Free or Reduced Price Meals (5) | |
43.8 | 32.7 | 53.6 | 49.5 | 55 | 35.9 |
| On-Time Graduation Rate (%) | |
80 | 89 | 100 | 90 | 100 | 70 |
| 7th Grade Reading (%) | |
82.4 | 92.1 | 96.4 | 82.1 | 94.1 | 69 |
| 7th Grade Math (%) | |
52.9 | 78.1 | 39.3 | 63.3 | 76.5 | 50.8 |
| 7th Grade Writng (%) | |
58.8 | 92.1 | 60.7 | 65.5 | 82.4 | 61.2 |
| 10th Grade Reading (%) | |
88.2 | 88 | 77.8 | 95.2 | 73.7 | 72.9 |
| 10th Grade Math (%) | |
58.8 | 59.2 | 50 | 71.4 | 61.1 | 47.5 |
| 10th Grade Writing(%) | |
76.5 | 83.7 | 59.3 | 78.6 | 61.1 | 65.2 |
| Classroom Teachers | |
30 | 51 | 23 | 36 | 20 | - |
| Total number of core academic classes | |
66 | 90 | 82 | 118 | 37 | - |
| Per Student Total Revenue | |
10408 | 8905 | 9039 | 9851 | 12160 | 7658 |
| Per Student Total Expenditures | |
10408 | 8844 | 8619 | 9633 | 12175 | 7598 |
| Per Student Total Teaching Expenditures | |
6664 | 6155 | 5870 | 5838 | 7422 | 5266 |
| Median Household Income, in thousand $** | |
35.4 | 244.6 | 28.4 | 23.8 | 31.3 | 40.6 |
| Median Family Income. in thousand $** | |
39.3 | 51.8 | 35.2 | 35.7 | 36.8 | 66.9 |
| Per Person Income, in thousand $** | |
16.3 | 30.5 | 13.3 | 15.4 | 14.8 | 35.2 |
| Average Housing Value, in thousand $** | |
70 | 244 | 84 | 77.5 | 71.8 | - |
| County | |
Lincoln | San Juan | Lewis | Pend Orielle |
*all data not footnoted retrieved from School District pages located at: reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us
** data retrieved from: www.brainyzip.com
While Oakville does not compare well with these schools the data shows that other small schools, with large numbers of free or reduced price meals can achieve quite well. Household incomes, house values and related data do not seem to detract from performance. Likewise large expenditures per student do not quarantee improved results.
This page created and maintained by Dave Palmer