By ANNELI FOGT

Editor

The results of the new state standardized Smarter Balanced math and English tests were mailed out to island parents last week, but Vashon Island School District Superintendent Michael Soltman said that the results were hard to draw conclusions from because so many students opted out.

“That’s a disappointment,” Soltman said. “We’re unable to draw conclusions from the results. As a system, we can’t know how we did.”

According to the state report card from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s website, the percentage of Vashon students who met the math and English standards was higher than the state average. For example, 53 percent of third-grade students statewide met state standards in English and language arts and 57 percent met math standards. The percentages exclude “no scores” due to unexcused absences or refusals. Less than 1 percent of state third-graders opted out of the English test, and 1 percent opted out of math.

On Vashon, 62 percent of third-graders met the English standards and 66 percent met math standards. Six percent of island third-graders opted out of the English test, but 21 percent opted out of math.

While it appears a higher percentage of Vashon students met standards when compared to state numbers, the opt-out rate on the island is also much higher. Five percent of fifth-graders opted out of the English test, and 10 percent opted out of the math test locally. Statewide, 1 percent of fifth-graders opted out of both the English and Math tests.

Vashon High School juniors had the highest local opt-out rate with almost 32 percent not taking the math test. A total of 25 percent refused the English test.

“Third-, eighth- and iith-grades had the highest opt-out rates,” Soltman said. “Fifth-grade had the most students tested, and their performance was strong.”

He said that the students who did take the tests performed “better than expected” given reports ahead of the testing that predicted two-thirds of students would not meet standards.

“It was actually almost exactly opposite; roughly two-thirds did meet the standards,” Soltman said. “I’m not surprised our kids performed well. The teachers have been aligning to Common Core and will continue to.”