Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

 11/06/01

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District Honored with Award of
Reading Achievement for Fourth Grade

Students, teachers, staff, and parents at Auburn School District have been awarded the 2001 Reading Achievement award from the State of Washington through the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

In 1998, the Legislature required that school districts establish three-year reading improvement performance goals for elementary schools to be achieved at the end of the 2000-01 school year, as measured by the results of the 2001 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).  Schools and districts were charged with achieving a 25 percent reduction in the number of students not meeting standard on the WASL in reading.  Schools and districts were allowed to set higher goals than the 25 percent reduction.  The Auburn School Board of Directors established targets for every Auburn school in the areas of writing, listening, and mathematics.  Each school developed a plan that described how the available tools and resources will be used to improve student learning.  District goals for accountability were met in 2000.

There were 640 elementary schools and 172 districts – approximately 66.1 percent of students – that met the state reading goal.  The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction continues to design professional development opportunities and materials for schools and districts that did not meet their goals.

The Auburn School District is busy working on a new series of goals adopted by the Legislature and A+ Commission.  The school district will be using its 2001 WASL score to establish new goals in reading and math for all fourth, seventh, and tenth graders.  The calculation for computing the state improvement goal remains the same (i.e. a 25 percent reduction in the number of students not meeting standard).  These goals must be met by the end of the 2003-04 school year.