Here’s a glance at how the larger districts in the South Sound fared on the WASL. Where appropriate, districts are compared to other districts with similar demographics, rather than just the overall state average.

AUBURN

District Superintendent Kip Herren said the new set of test scores indicates that Auburn needs to target specific groups of students whose scores are not improving.

Like the rest of the state, he said the scores for all schools are up and down for all grades.

“The trend in Auburn has been a leveling off over the last three years,” Herren said. “What it means for us is we have got to do something different.”

Of particular concern, he said, is the performance of students such as low income and English-language learners, whose scores have shown some improvement over time but “there is still quite a gap.”

For example, 10th-grade English-language learners had a score of 26 percent making standard in reading in 2003-04, and this year it rose to only 28 percent. Among 10th-grade American Indian students during the same period, scores fell from 50 percent making standard in reading in 2003-04 to 47 percent this year.

BETHEL

Bethel schools saw significant gains in most of the grades tested, said Ann Varkados, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

“In particular, we are happy with the gains for all subjects in fifth, sixth and eighth grades,” she said.

In eighth grade, for instance, math results rose by 8 percentage points, reading was up 7 points and science increased by 6 points.

Writing and science scores in all three grades tested made strong gains, although they generally were still below the state average. But math presented more of a mixed picture. Though fifth-, sixth- and eighth-grade math results rose, third, fourth, seventh and 10th grades dropped by one to six points. Math scores in all grades fell below the statewide average.

“While we did see gains in scores for the 2008 school year, in many cases the gains were not enough to meet school and district goals,” Varkados said. “As a result we will need to continue our focused efforts to support Bethel students that are still not meeting standard.”

CLOVER PARK

In Lakewood, Clover Park School District officials are savoring gains in 10th-grade reading, writing, math and science, but they’re disappointed by drooping math marks in some grades.

“Our 10th-grade scores in writing are above the state standard, so that is a big celebration for us,” Superintendent Debbie LeBeau said.

Nearly 88 percent of the district’s sophomores passed the writing portion of the WASL. That’s about 2 percentage points better than the statewide average.

Slightly more than 33 percent of the district’s sophomores passed the math segment of the WASL, compared with about 30 percent last year. That’s well below the state average, but similar to comparable districts Franklin Pierce and Tacoma. Fourth-graders slipped a lot. Just 32 percent of them in Clover Park hit the math standard in 2008, compared with about 43 percent a year ago.

New math materials should help, LeBeau said.

Overall, she said, the district has an aggressive improvement plan she thinks will help raise achievement in all areas. “It’s going to keep us very, very busy,” she said.

FEDERAL WAY

Federal Way School District scores are “mixed” with some notable improvements, said spokeswoman Diane Turner.

“There is some good news in reading and writing at the comprehensive high schools with 85 to 90 percent of students meeting standards,” Turner said.

Also noteworthy, she said, was that Illahee Middle School eighth-grade scores improved 11 percentage points in reading and 10 points in math over last year. At Lakeland Elementary School, sixth-grade scores grew 17 percentage points in reading and 6 points in math compared to last year. By contrast, middle school students overall fell 6 points in reading this year compared to last.

“We continue to work hard on math at all levels, and that is one of our key priorities in the district,” Turner said.

FRANKLIN PIERCE

Administrators need more time to analyze scores before making detailed comments, spokesman Willie Painter said.

But in general, Superintendent Frank Hewins plans to focus on how well schools have done at closing the achievement gap – the difference in how well students of poverty and color perform compared with white and middle-class kids.

The district is about 50 percent minority with more than half of its kids qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches.

The 10th-grade passage rate on the math test went up nearly 4 percentage points from last year. The overall district mark of 38 percent of kids meeting the standard in math is below the state average but comparable to some other urban districts.

“Math is still a concern for the district,” Painter said, but Hewins “has high hopes” that professional development programs for teachers and other strategies will soon pay off.

Officials are pleased with increases in writing and science scores in some grades, Painter said. They’re also happy with scores in reading, math and writing among alternative-school seventh-graders, he added.

PENINSULA

The district topped the state average in all categories and scored similar to other South Sound suburban districts with similar demographics.

One of the improvement areas officials pointed to this year was writing, which saw increases from the previous year at the fourth-, seventh- and 10th-grade levels.

Amy Nelson, the district’s director of assessment and accountability, said Peninsula schools held workshops and took other measures over the past year to improve writing.

Another bright spot was eighth-graders, who improved in all categories – reading, math and science – from the year before.

“I believe our teachers are always trying to look at students, one student at a time, to try to meet their needs,” said Superintendent Terry Bouck.

PUYALLUP

Math results remained close to the previous year in most grades, though fifth-graders made a 2-percentage-point gain to 66 percent and fourth-grade scores fell by 6 percentage points to 59 percent. The picture was similar in reading.

The biggest improvement across the three grade levels tested was in science. Tenth-graders gained more than 11 percentage points to 47 percent, while fourth-graders upped their passing rate by just over 8 points to 45 percent. Eighth-graders improved by more than 4 points to 46 percent.

“Puyallup continues to make progress in many areas,” Superintendent Tony Apostle said in a written statement. “We are proud of the work of our staff and students. We are most pleased with the performance of the students in our recent graduating class.”

Based on results released in early June, he said, 98.8 percent of Puyallup seniors in the Class of 2008 met the reading and writing WASL standards, a requirement to graduate.

SUMNER

Generally, Sumner schools scored above the statewide average on reading, math, writing and science. Its scores in most grades were in the same ballpark as Puyallup, an adjacent suburban district with a similar poverty rate.

“Like many districts, we continue to see some schools and grade levels where scores are increasing or decreasing by two or three points from year to year,” said Susie Lynch, district director of research and assessment, in a news release. “These fluctuations reflect the academic performance of one group of students to another and are to be expected over time.”

Sometimes, scores ebb and flow when a school emphasizes one subject over others, Superintendent Gil Mendoza said.

“Last year several of our elementary schools put additional focus on mathematics and their student performance in math increased while reading and writing scores declined slightly,” he said. “We must learn to improve achievement in all areas, without losing past gains.”

TACOMA

Tacoma’s kids are getting better at writing, are up and down in reading and still have work to do in math, results show.

In math, where a back-to-basics curriculum was employed two years ago, scores dipped in some grades and dropped more significantly in others. The passing rate was down about 3 percentage points in fifth and sixth grades but up a bit in fourth grade.

Tacoma’s scores lagged behind the state average, but its 2008 score changes, whether in the plus or the minus column, “almost perfectly” matched state trends, assessment director Pat Cummings said in a statement.

Spokeswoman Leanna Albrecht pointed out that Lincoln, Mount Tahoma and Oakland high schools all posted double-digit hikes in writing scores, as did Jennie Reed Elementary fourth-graders and Bryant Montessori seventh-graders.

Professional development, new curricula and other strategies are helping, Albrecht said.

“It’s hard work, but we’re focused on our long-term goal of getting all students to 100 percent,” said Superintendent Art Jarvis.

UNIVERSITY PLACE

The school district’s students scored higher than the state average in all categories except 10th-grade math. Its scores for grades three through eight trended higher than two districts with comparable poverty rates: Sumner and South Kitsap.

Two of the most significant increases from the year before include fifth-grade science, up 7 percentage points, and fourth-grade writing, up 10 points.

“Our staff continues to rise to every new bar that’s set for them,” Superintendent Patti Banks said.

Banks emphasized that the WASL is only one measure of student performance and pointed to other barometers, such as increased math scores on the SAT.

The district continues to stick to a curriculum that prepares students for college and beyond, she said.

Compiled by Debby Abe, Mike Archbold, Brent Champaco, John Henrikson and Kris Sherman, The News Tribune