Students in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) continue to outperform students across the state on new standardized tests.

The watchword for state testing this year was “new.”

The WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) was out. The new tests were the Measurements of Students Progress (MSP) for grades three through eight and the High School Proficiency (HSPE) for 10th grade. The math MSP was not only a new test but also assessed new learning standards. And online testing was new for students in grades six through eight.

The difference between LWSD scores and state scores stayed within the range set over the last four years for all reading, writing and science tests. The exceptions were fourth grade reading and 10th grade science, where in both cases, LWSD students did better.

• In fourth grade reading, district scores fell less than the state did, from 87 percent to 84 percent district-wide and from 74 percent to 67 percent statewide.

• For 10th grade science, LWSD scores improved even more than state scores, from 59 percent to 71 percent district-wide and from 39 percent to 44 percent statewide.

Because the math test was different this year, test scores essentially reset and can not be compared to past scores. However, the comparison between district and state scores provides some information.

“There are three grades where our math scores were not quite as high as we would expect, given the state averages,” said Dr. Traci Pierce, deputy superintendent of LWSD. “In third, fifth and sixth grade math, the percent of students at standard did not outshine state levels quite as much as they have historically. Since this is a new test with new standards, we will look carefully at the results and by school to see what might be going on.”

Dr. Chip Kimball, LWSD superintendent, noted, “Our main concern from this year’s state tests came in eighth grade math. Normally, we see anywhere from 21 percent to 24 percent more students at standard than the state overall. This year, the gap is just 11 percent and is not acceptable in Lake Washington. We will review the new state standards, our curriculum and our teaching strategies to see what might have happened and what we can do to make sure more of our students succeed.”

For more information about the Lake Washington School District, visit www.lwsd.org.