THE NEWS CHICK BLOG

Seattle Schools’ students are ‘thriving,’ despite evidence

Nov 2, 2012, 6:54 AM | Updated: 7:30 am

Enrollment is up in Seattle Schools. For the 2012-13 school year the district’s 95 schools ad...

Enrollment is up in Seattle Schools. For the 2012-13 school year the district's 95 schools added 1,400 for a total of 49,864. In the next decade, the district expects to add 7,000 students. (AP file photo)

(AP file photo)

A report card on Seattle Public Schools’ shows the district is not on track to reach any of the performance goals it set almost five years ago.

The new Seattle Schools Superintendent, José Banda, says the district is “thriving, with enrollment on the rise and test scores increasing.”

There are more students and test scores are up in some areas, but the district will not meet any of the performance goals they sent almost five years ago.

In 2008, the district set goals for “academic growth and student outcomes” which is education speak for improving how well students do on standardized tests.

By 2013, the district expects 95 percent of 10th-graders to pass the state’s reading exam. With a year to go before the deadline, only about 79 percent passed, according to the latest data.

The goal was to have 80 percent of seventh graders pass the state math test. It’s unlikely that’ll happen with only 67 percent passing now.

The district hoped 80 percent of high school students would graduate within four years, but right now about 74 percent graduate on time.

Were the district’s goals too lofty?

Although SPS won’t hit any of them, student performance is improving.

On the state math test, the fourth-grade-passage rate has gone up from 56 percent to 67 percent. About 67 percent of seventh graders are passing, which is a big bump up from 53 percent four years ago.

When it comes to spending money on kids, the district planned to spend about 81 percent of its budget on students by 2013. Currently, 77 percent is spent on instruction. About 7 percent goes to the central administration staff.

Enrollment is up in Seattle Schools. For the 2012-13 school year the district’s 95 schools added 1,400 for a total of 49,864. In the next decade, the district expects to add 7,000 students.

By LINDA THOMAS, a mom to two SPS kids

The News Chick Blog

The wife of Seattle attorney Danford Grant moved his car away from one of the alleged crime scenes ...

No Author

Equal justice for Seattle lawyer accused of several rapes?

Has accused serial rapist Danford Grant gotten preferential treatment because both he and his wife are Seattle attorneys?

12 years ago

The Seattle-based I Can Has Cheezburger network now includes 60 humor sites. Many of their 90 emplo...

No Author

Seattle humor network, built with funny cat pictures, becomes a reality TV show

A small Internet empire with a funny name has billions of page views on its network of 60 humor websites based in Seattle. Now, I Can Has Cheezburger has a reality TV show too.

12 years ago

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spent a combined $30.33 every second this election cycle. Wa...

No Author

Democracy and dollar signs – 2012 campaign spending

Washington initiative campaigns spent $34 million trying to win your vote, while President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spent a combined $30.33 every second this election cycle.

12 years ago

Chef Tom Douglas says Seattle’s restaurants are ‘a little homemade’ compared with...

No Author

Chef Tom Douglas says ‘Seattle is a funny restaurant town’

Chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas, with 13 Seattle restaurants and more on the way, says Seattle is a "funny restaurant town."

12 years ago

Investigation continues into why a commander of the Bremerton-based Stennis carrier group was remov...

No Author

New ‘crazy’ conspiracy theory on Stennis Rear Admiral

The Pentagon shoots down theories about why the commander of the USS Stennis Carrier Group was removed from duty and sent back to the homeport in Bremerton.

12 years ago

Seattle photographer Paul Souders captures an adult polar bear up close in Hudson Bay in Churchill,...

No Author

Seattle photographer comes face to face with a polar bear

A wildlife photographer, who lives in Ballard, has taken thousands of stunning shots. None put him on "a razor's edge" more than a series of photos swimming with a polar bear.

12 years ago

Seattle Schools’ students are ‘thriving,’ despite evidence