From an article published at The Intelligencer by Andrew Rice. This is a 3 cups of coffee/tea article. Last winter, the federal government released the results of its semi-annual reading and math tests of fourth- and eighth-graders, assessments that are considered the most authoritative measure of the state of learning in American elementary and middle schools. In nearly every category, the scores had plunged to levels unseen for decades — or ever. On reading tests, 40 percent of fourth-graders and one-third of eighth-graders performed below “basic,” the lowest threshold. A separate assessment of 12th-graders conducted this past spring — the first since schools were shuttered by the … [Read more...]
National and WA State 8th and 4th grade test results
Brought to you by the good people at Edunomics A timely update from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown’s McCourt School. Today’s NAEP scores provide a reckoning of sorts. In contrast to each state’s annual assessments, the NAEP enables a comparison of student learning across states and over time. These last two years in public education have been unlike any before. Students were emerging from deep pandemic-era learning losses just as $190B in relief funds began to rain down on schools. Now for the truth bomb: In states like KY, LA, MS, TN, and WV that answer is yes. Students in these states saw real (even if modest) score gains … [Read more...]
What’s Driving the Ballooning Support Staff in Public Schools?
The article comes from Intellectual Takeout: https://intellectualtakeout.org/2019/09/whats-driving-the-ballooning-support-staff-in-public-schools/ State Superintendent of Schools for Washington State, Chris Reykdal, is asking the State Legislature to increase funding for schools by another $3 billion. This would put education at over 50% of every dollar. Personnel consume over 80% of every dollar. In this article they point out that for all the money and more personnel text scores are stagnant to falling. Money isn't the issue. In the animated graphic below, University of Michigan economics professor Mark Perry charts the ballooning nature of public school staff, students, and … [Read more...]
Top 5 states for K-12 teachers?
From a 2023 survey (the newest available) the best states for teachers at Scholaroo At #1 - Washington State Average teacher salary: $81,586 Teacher/Student ratio: 8.15 Average teacher pension: $28,204 Job Availability: 4 Washington State stands out in the categories of Salary and Compensation and Work Benefits in the Best States for Teachers 2023. In the first category mentioned, it has the highest salary increase for teachers in the last 10 years. In addition, more than half of its teachers qualify for a pension. At #2: - California Average teacher salary: $87,275 Teacher/Student ratio: 7.48 Average teacher pension: $49,267 Job … [Read more...]
Washington State K-12 compensation and other data
Our friend Jeff has a website we've mentioned before. Given the strikes at Evergreen and Camas and talk of striking at Battle Ground and other districts around the state we reached out to Jeff asking for an overview of the information he tracks. Following is that discussion with links to his website and data for your perusal. Note: Jeff does an annual update in December to capture the most current data published by OSPI. This data is entirely from OSPI. Jeff amalgamates and organizes it. So if someone claims the data is false refer them to Chris Reykdal the State Superintent of Schools. I have these charts already online for all 295 traditional school districts in WA plus most of … [Read more...]
Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) – the true cost of K-12 education in Washington State
There is a national organization called NCES – National Center for Education Statistics (https://nces.ed.gov) that tracks education data across the United States. They have a recommended method for identifying the true cost of K-12 education...and the State of Washington (OSPI) does NOT conform to that recommended standard. Specifically, NCES says there are four (4) cost factors in determining what the true cost of educating a student in public schools is: State contributions to a school district Local levy funds Local capital bonds Debt service costs Washington State (OSPI) only includes state contributions and local levies. They ignore capital bond and … [Read more...]
McCleary Impact on School District Budgets and Spending per Student
There are various claims and rumors about the impact the State Legislature's changes to the school funding formula will have moving forward. We did some digging and came up with projections the State is using. These projections assume that the local levy is capped at $1.50/$1000 (max of $2500 per student) starting in 2019/2020 and that the State will take on the bulk of the funding. That funding comes from an increase in the State School Property Tax (from $1.98/$1000 of assessed value to $2.90/$1000 in Clark County). First, here is the link to the projection on the District Budgets for the entire State. We took the opportunity to highlight the ten (10) district in Southwest Washington … [Read more...]
Reading far outweighs socio-economic background for impact on pupils’ success
From tes.com Reading for pleasure far outweighs the impact of socio-economic background on pupils’ success at school, Nick Gibb has said. The schools minister wants every primary pupil to read “at least one book a week” and is concerned that secondary English teachers start preparing pupils for GCSE-style questions too soon. “Reading for pleasure is more important than a family’s socio-economic status in determining a child’s success at school,” Mr Gibb said yesterday. The minister cited UCL Institute of Education research involving 6,000 children which found that reading for pleasure was more important for a child’s cognitive development, between 10-16, than their parents’ level … [Read more...]