Recognition ranks them among the highest performing schools in the state in terms of growth and achievement
BATTLE GROUND — Schools in the Battle Ground Public Schools district have earned awards as State Recognized Schools for the 2017-18 school year, ranking them among the highest performing schools in the state in terms of growth and achievement.
CAM Academy was recognized for high achievement in English language arts, math, graduation rate, and School Quality and Student Success (SQSS) measures; Yacolt Primary was recognized for growth in the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) metrics while narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest performing student groups; and Daybreak Primary and Laurin Middle schools were each recognized for closing gaps and demonstrating improvement among student groups identified for support.
“Recognized schools are in the top 20 percent on multiple measures and are closing achievement gaps or have all student groups achieving at a high level,” said Kevin Laverty, Chair of the State Board of Education. “Every school that earned a State Recognized School distinction this year should be very proud of their students and their staff.”
The Washington State School Recognition Awards are sponsored by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the State Board of Education, and the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee. The state selected this year’s 216 winning schools based on an updated recognition framework that incorporates state level and local information to identify schools that are exemplars in terms of growth and achievement using the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) measures. These awards replace the annual Washington Achievement Awards.
CAM Academy principal Ryan Cowl said it takes a team effort to accomplish the school’s goals of high achievement and to maximize student success. “CAM Academy is a school that is built on character where students are challenged to always do their personal best,” Cowl said. “We have an incredibly caring and supportive staff that are readily available to support students.”
The process is similar at Yacolt Primary School, which received recognition for growth and narrowing gaps. “At Yacolt Primary School, you will find a team of highly effective, caring and collaborative staff members who have so much compassion and dedication to our kids every day” said principal Lynell Murray. “Collaboration is a major key to our success, as all of our teams, including our specialists and special education teachers, continually discuss student achievement and partner together to achieve student success.”
Relationships are key at Laurin, which is being recognized for closing gaps and demonstrating improvement. “Through relationships, we are able to better identify student needs and the supports necessary,” said principal Travis Drake. “Whether through our daily intervention and enhancement period or our weekly advisory period, we are intentional and relentless in the pursuit of ensuring all of our students have an opportunity to succeed.”
Daybreak Primary principal Matt Kauffman said the school’s general education and special education teachers meet regularly to examine individual student data and to identify school-wide data trends. He attributes this collaboration for the school’s recognition for closing gaps and demonstrating improvement. “We use data to set up a series of collaborative conversations between special education staff and classroom teachers to align our instructional practices and intervention supports for students in all areas of the school,” Kauffman said. “We have continued to make significant growth in closing the gap for our students who receive special education services.”
Award-winning schools were recognized as top performers in one of three categories:
- Closing Gaps: recognizes schools previously identified for ESSA support tiers 1-3 with low performing student groups that showed substantial improvement.
- Growth: recognizes schools making the largest annual gains on the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) measures and meeting the gap reduction requirement – the WSIF gap between the highest and lowest performing student group must be narrowing.
- Achievement: recognizes the highest achieving schools on ELA and math proficiency, high school graduation rate, and the School Quality and Student Success (SQSS) measures, and meeting the winter 2019 WSIF performance requirement – all student groups must be performing at 6.0 or higher on the 2019 WISF, well above the state average.
Information provided by Battle Ground School District.
