SPOKANE, Wash. -- Parents in Washington have a new tool to track the success and failure of their public schools.
It is an online database called "Washington School Improvement Framework" and the data is collected by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The database meets a federal requirement under the Every Child Succeeds Act to track student and school data.
The information can be broken down by report cards for the whole state or down to student groups at each school in your district.
The database goes beyond test scores and graduation rates. High schools are rated based on whether ninth graders are on track to graduate on time and whether students have access to dual credit programs like Running Start or Advanced Placement Classes. All schools are also rated on how many students are chronically absent.
All the data is combined into an overall score for each school. It also breaks down the scores for each ethnic group within that building.
KREM 2 pulled report cards for high schools in the Spokane Public Schools district. The high school with the highest percentage of 9th graders on track to graduate is Ferris High School at 81.7 percent for all students. Taking a closer look though, only 73.1 percent of low income students at the school are expected to graduate on time. Rogers High School came in at 55.7 percent, the lowest rate of 9th graders on track to graduate.
As for regular attendance rates, Rogers High School once again came in with the lowest percentage of 63.9 percent of all students. Lewis and Clark High School appears to have the best attendance with a rate for 80.8 percent.
School districts are required to make improvements based on this information. Spokane Public Schools leaders said it is still looking over the information as it was made available just last week. They add that the district is very interested in what the data can tell them about its students.
"We're looking at it collectively and each of our schools are looking at it," Lorna Spear, director of early learning. "We're just starting conversations to try to see trends and patterns that we can work together to better support our students."
KREM 2 will check back in with the district once it has had chance to look over the data and update you on improvements the district plans to make.
You can look up your school district by visiting this website. Click on the "Washington School Improvement Framework" box. Then choose "SIF Data Display" tab near the top of the page. Pick your school district and school.