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Citizens' Report Card: Significant Work Still Critical to Ensuring Students' Success; Governor's Education Budget a Big Step Forward

Posted on: Thursday, 25 January 2007, 12:00 CST

OLYMPIA, Wash., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- It's still not a report card you'd be proud to show your parents. The grades given to Washington State's education system by the League of Education Voters' (LEV) Foundation in its second Citizen's Report Card on education are mediocre or poor -- and they paint an alarming picture.

The Report Card's message is painful, but clear -- For the first time in our state's history, the current generation of children is at risk of being less educated than the current generation of adults.

2007 Report Card Snapshot: -- The Early Learning Years: Progress Made, But Many Still Start School Unprepared Grade: C -- Math & Science: Still Lacking A Competitive Edge Grade: D -- Personalized Learning: Helping Every Student Succeed Grade: C -- College and Workforce Training: Increasing Opportunities Grade: C -- Quality & Accountability Investments: Keeping the Promise Grade: D

"What this tells us very clearly is that we are still not helping students throughout the education system reach their full potential," said Lisa Macfarlane, president of the LEV Foundation. "If we fail to make improvements, the results for our children and our state's economy will be disastrous."

Governor's Commitment and Leadership Key to Progress

Incremental progress in this year's report card was made possible by Governor Chris Gregoire's leadership on education issues since 2005. LEV Foundation applauds her leadership on Washington Learns and her determination to make necessary improvements, as evidenced by her proposed 2007-2009 budget.

"If we were to give Governor Gregoire a grade for her leadership on education issues, it would be an A," Macfarlane said. "Washington Learns is producing a roadmap for development of a world-class education system in Washington State. By making education her number one priority in the upcoming 2007-2009 budget cycle, the Governor is taking a bold step to ensure a high quality education for all students."

Governor Gregoire has proposed a two-year budget that would make substantial investments at all levels, from early learning through higher education, keeping her promise to make a substantial down payment on education in her 2007-2009 budget. Gregoire's investment plan is a big step forward, and would fully fund two voter approved initiatives for class size reductions and pay increases for teachers, and provide for critically needed increases in K-12 funding.

"Education is the single most important investment we can make for our children, our state, our economy and our future," said Governor Gregoire. "My budget makes an historic investment in education. It recognizes that we must make fundamental changes to education delivery and expectations in order to give our students the best chance of success."

REPORT CARD SUMMARY

Washington Learns, an 18-month comprehensive review of the state's educational system launched by Gregoire in 2005, skillfully framed the issues currently facing education in Washington. LEV Foundation's second report card uses the five Washington Learns frames (early learning, math and science, personalized learning, college and workforce training, and quality and accountability investments) to define the problems, measure progress and outline promising strategies to fix the problems.

Each area was assessed using three indicators -- improvement or decline compared with past performance, the national average, and how Washington's progress compares with that of the eight Global Challenge States. These states were selected as the states with highest education performance by Progressive Policy Institute's New Economy Index.

Following is a brief summary of the findings in the Citizens' Report Card on Washington State Education. The complete report can be found online at http://www.levfoundation.org/.

The Early Learning Years: Progress Made, But Many Still Start School Unprepared

Overall grade: C

Many families are unable to access quality child care and early learning programs. Research shows that children who aren't ready for kindergarten are less likely to master reading by the fourth grade - the single most important factor in improving education.

2007 Progress Report Improvements No Measurable Change -- Establishment of the Department -- More than 10,000 eligible of Early Learning low-income preschoolers not served by Head Start or ECEAP -- Establishment of Thrive by Five -- No improvement in percentage Washington, a public-private of African-American students partnership who passed the 4th grade reading WASL -- Increase in the percentage of 4th graders who met the reading standard Math & Science: Still Lacking A Competitive Edge Overall grade: D

Many high school students avoid challenging math and science courses, and have to take remedial courses in college. The state has difficulty attracting and retaining qualified math and science teachers, and our universities are unable to meet the demand for mathematicians, engineers and scientists.

2007 Progress Report Improvements No Measurable Change Going Backward -- Slight increase -- No progress made -- Slight decrease in in percentage of in 5th grade the percentage of 10th graders who science WASL scores 4th and 7th graders passed the math who passed the WASL math WASL -- Decrease in the -- Slight decrease in college math the percentage of remediation rate 10th graders who by 7 percent in passed the science the past three WASL years Personalized Learning: Helping Every Student Succeed Overall grade: C

Washington's class sizes are still among the largest in the nation, and drop-out rates are as high as 45 percent in some areas. Many struggling students need intensive tutoring and mentoring, and many others aren't given the opportunity to develop their talents in technology, music, language and the arts. The state's schools are struggling to meet today's demands with an outdated, inadequate funding system.

2007 Progress Report Improvements No Measurable Change -- Increase in on-time -- No significant progress high school graduation in increasing teacher rate for all students diversity -- Decrease in annual drop-out rate for all students College and Workforce Training: Increasing Opportunities Overall grade: C

Washington is not producing enough skilled employees to meet employer demand. The state's economy is fueled by importing workers from elsewhere, leaving students educated in Washington with lower-wage jobs. Barriers to post-secondary education must be eliminated to produce the caliber of workers the state needs to remain competitive.

2007 Progress Report Improvements No Measurable Change Going Backward -- Small gains in -- No change in overall -- Small increase in college college participation student debt by participation rates undergraduate rates for Latinos, students since African-Americans -- No change in and Native affordability of -- Community Americans compared public four-year colleges are with last year colleges and less affordable universities for for Washington's Washington's poorest poorest families families compared with 2004 Quality & Accountability Investments: Keeping the Promise Overall grade: D

A statewide educational reform initiative launched in 1993 set new standards for student achievement, but per-student funding has lost ground against inflation and the national average since then. Washington cannot realize significant improvements in WASL scores, graduation rates or post-secondary education without increasing funding.

2007 Progress Report Improvements No Measurable Change Going Backward -- Washington Learns -- No change in -- Widening gap adoption of Global Washington's rank between national Challenge States for teacher average and K-12 to benchmark compensation per-student performance and spending investments -- Work has started on a student-centered data system connecting K-12 with early learning and higher education THE SOLUTION: SETTING PRIORITIES, REFOCUSING EFFORTS

The LEV Foundation recommends that the state set five main priorities for improving its educational system:

-- Redefine basic education -- The Legislature should redefine basic education in statute, using the Global Challenge States as a benchmark for per-student funding and passing a six-year plan that phases-in full funding. -- Reading by the fourth grade -- Ensuring that every child is a capable reader by the 4th grade must become the state's highest educational priority. -- Boosting math and science -- The state should launch an aggressive math and science campaign from pre-school through college, implementing internationally recognized standards and high-level math curricula. -- Making education relevant -- Schools should adopt programs that help students develop personal education plans, starting in middle school. -- Opening doors to higher education -- The state should adopt a long-range plan that benchmarks Washington's per-student funding to the Global Challenge States, and invest more in grants and scholarships. About LEV Foundation

The League of Education Voters' Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to engaging ordinary citizens, educators, policy makers, and the media in the effort to provide a quality education for all students in Washington -- from pre-school through college. http://www.levfoundation.org/.

Media Contact: Natalie Quick, The Fearey Group for LEV Foundation (206) 343-1543 nquick@feareygroup.com

League of Education Voters' Foundation

Contact: Natalie Quick of The Fearey Group, +1-206-343-1543,nquick@feareygroup.com, for LEV Foundation

Web site: http://www.levfoundation.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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