Bainbridge Island students ace state assessment exams

By TAD SOOTER
Bainbridge Island Review Reporter
Aug 27 2008 · UPDATED

Bainbridge students scored among the highest in the state on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning again this year, though some scores at lower grade levels were lower than in 2007.

Grade-by-grade results from the statewide assessment were released Tuesday morning by the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

At the 10th grade level, 97.7 percent of Bainbridge students passed both the reading and writing portions of the WASL. Statewide, 81.3 percent of sophomores passed the reading section, while 86.2 passed writing.

At Bainbridge high schools, 84.7 percent of 10th graders passed mathematics section and 68.6 percent passed the science section. Statewide, 49.3 percent and 39.7 percent of sophomores passed those sections, respectively.

Bainbridge students in grades 3 through 8 also performed well-above state averages on the WASL. But WASL scores declined from 2007 in some areas for those lower grade levels. Most significantly, passage rates for grades 4 and 7 were lower in reading, writing and mathematics this year than in 2007, mirroring a statewide trend.

“We are very pleased that a high percentage of Bainbridge Island students continue to perform very well on the WASL,” BISD Supt. Faith Chapel said in a statement Tuesday. “We are especially pleased to note that the achievement level of our 10th grade students is among the highest in the state.”

Chapel said the district was concerned about scores at lower grade levels and would be working to analyze and adjust its curriculum in response.

This year’s 10th grade WASL results were largely stable from 2007, when 97 percent passed the reading section, 97.3 percent passed the writing section, 85 percent passed the mathematics section and 67.7 percent passed the science section. The science portion of the WASL will not be a requirement for graduation until 2013.

See www.bainbridgereview.com for updates.

Bainbridge Island Review Reporter Tad Sooter can be reached at tsooter@bainbridgereview.com or (206) 842-6613

Mortenson on Bainbridge

Another reason to love living here. Bainbridge (and beyond: the rest of Kitsap County) was asked by Eagle Harbor Book Company and the Kitsap Library to read Three Cups of Tea, the story of Greg Mortenson's mission to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Last evening, the high school gym was packed to the back doors with those of us who read the book. I came away with a keen sense that fighting terrorists is futile; that fighting for peace through education is powerful and worth while. I learned that a penny buys a pencil in Pakistan, and that that pencil gives hope to someone's future mother. A penny! Over and over Mr. Mortenson stressed an African proverb: To educate a boy is to educate an individual; to educate a girl is to educate a community. I have a renewed appreciation not only of what Mr. Mortenson is doing in the Middle East but of what our teachers are doing right here.