(The Center Square) – The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is pushing back against a recent commentary piece by congressional candidate Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, suggesting Superintendent Chris Reykdal is “playing politics with test scores” and “reporting the latest statewide assessment results under a new label.”
As reported by The Center Square, OSPI said that 71% of students were determined to have “foundational” knowledge at grade level or above in English Language Arts, while 63% of students exhibited grade-level knowledge or above in math.
Levels 2, 3, and 4 are now considered “grade level.” Previously, only students who scored a 3 or 4 were often described as having met the academic standard. OSPI and testing vendor Smarter Balanced have clarified that students scoring at Level 2 are also demonstrating “foundational grade-level knowledge and skills,” although with less complexity than the higher levels.
“The new label excludes only Level 1 results, meaning the lowest. It’s like counting everyone who didn’t flunk, when the count used to be everyone who got a C or better,” Braun said in his commentary. “This has the effect of significantly inflating the percentages so that 70.9% meet the new definition in English and 63.3% in math. Staying with the met-grade-level heading of past years shows 50.8% in English and 40.7% in math.”
In a Thursday interview with The Center Square, Braun reiterated his frustration with Reykdal and the lackluster student outcomes he contends OSPI is attempting to make look better.
“I would use the word misleading. I mean, we continue to have low test scores,” Braun told The Center Square. “What we have is a superintendent of public construction and a staff there that wants to make excuses and cast aspersions on people that bring this issue up, whether it’s me or others, and doesn’t really want to deal with the plain facts that we are failing the children in our state, and we need to do better.”
OSPI hit back by suggesting Braun, who has launched a campaign to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Maria Gluesenkamp Perez next year in southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, is politically motivated.
“We recognize Sen. Braun’s decision to attack the state superintendent as a pathway to Congress,” OSPI Chief Communications Officer Katy Payne emailed The Center Square.
Braun, the top Republican in the state Senate, said he’s not the one playing politics.
“I’m enormously disappointed that the superintendent of public instruction would rather cast aspersions on folks who look at the actual results than get down to work and make it better,” he said.
The Center Square asked OSPI about the scoring change.
“Smarter Balanced, the creator of the state test that Washington uses, released information in the summer of 2024 clarifying what the achievement levels mean,” Payne replied. “OSPI didn’t change the scale; we updated our language to match the language that the test creator uses. Students who earn a Level 2 on the assessment have demonstrated foundational grade level progress with a limited range of complexity.”
Dr. Vicki Murray is the director of the Center for Education and the Paul W. Locke Research Fellow for Education at the free-market Washington Policy Center think tank.
She said OSPI is not reporting percentages of students at each level, 1 through 4, making it difficult to see how students are really performing.
“So essentially, when Superintendent Reykdal talks about being at foundational achievement levels, that combines the 2s, the students who are inconsistently proficient, with the 3s, which is the students who are proficient, and the 4s, the students who are advanced,” Murray explained. “What we like to focus on at the Washington Policy Center are the students who are consistently at grade level. So, the students who are consistently proficient, which is a 3s and 4s.”
She noted that Washington taxpayers are spending a lot of money per student, yet student test results are not improving.
“I don’t think Washingtonians should feel guilty for expecting consistent, grade-level proficiency when we are now spending on average close to $20,000 per student. Now, for perspective, that’s akin to in-state college tuition,” Murray said. “I’m a big believer in more transparency. The more transparency, the better. And I’m not aware of anything in the Smarter Balanced assessment, policies or rules that would prevent reporting information in a more transparent way.”
Reykdal has said he will ask the state Legislature for $10 million for professional development, with a special focus on kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers, and software for students to use to learn math.
Braun said he pushed the idea of extra support for math teachers a few years ago, “without much support from OSPI. So, it feels like déjà vu to me. I’m not opposed to it. I’m just saying it’s about time.”
