PASCO, WA – A new state school recognition system is honoring 14 schools in 7 districts across our corner of the state. Over the past year, the State Board of Education (SBE), the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC) worked together to revise the Washington State school recognition system to more equitably recognize schools. This new recognition system replaces the former Washington Achievement Awards.
Across the 23 school districts in Educational Service District 123’s region, the 7 districts recognized include College Place, Kennewick, North Franklin, Othello, Pasco, Richland and Walla Walla. (See the attached list of schools and their awards.)
The SBE, EOGOAC, and OSPI are phasing in the revisions to the recognition system over the course of three years. In a press release issued by SBE, they stated, “The now outdated Washington Achievement Awards were based on measures, some of which are no longer computed, that tended to be highly correlated to the school Free and Reduced Price Lunch (FRL) rate. The SBE, OSPI, and EOGOAC all agreed that a change was needed.”
This spring, 216 schools across Washington are being recognized for demonstrated exemplary performance or who have made significant progress closing opportunity and achievement gaps in the Washington School Improvement Framework (WSIF) measures. Two concurrent recognition events are scheduled for June 6 in both Olympia and Spokane.
To see the list of schools or to learn more about the new school recognition system, visit http://sbe.wa.gov/our-work/accountability/2017-2018-state-recognized-schools.
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About ESD 123: Educational Service District 123, based in Pasco, WA, is one of nine ESDs in Washington. Dedicated to delivering collaborative solutions that promote learning, ESD 123 serves 23 school districts in seven counties of Southeastern Washington. Under Superintendent Darcy Weisner and its board of directors, this legislatively mandated, not-for-profit educational organization provides efficiency of educational systems and equity of learning opportunities for over 70,000 Washington students. For more information about ESD 123, please call 509-544-5700 or 888-547-8441 or visit www.esd123.org.