Comparison of Highline and State 2024 Test Results: Shows Continued Negative Impacts of Covid

Highline Schools’ academic test scores were sinking even before Covid; newly released state data graphically highlights the widening academic gap compared to the state.

by Stuart Jenner.

As reported on September 11 by Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times, the state schools data portal now has test scores from the 2023-24 school year. He notes how some districts have numbers close to pre-Covid (2019), but not those in South King County. The Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) tests, taken in the spring, show:

Minimal changes over the past three years for both Highline District assessments
Wider gaps between state averages and Highline scores
Significant drops from testing done in 2018 and 2019 for Highline

The numbers indicated the percentage earning a 3 or 4 on the SBA (4 is the highest score). The state defines a score of 3 or 4 as indicating a student is on a pathway to college without remediation being needed in college.

Highline vs. the State, as compared in the following tables:

Highline scores for 2024 are lower than for 2023:
- English Language Arts (ELA) dropped from 34.0% to 33.2%, a drop of 0.8%
- Math dropped from 22.5% to 22.1%, a drop of 0.4%
State ELA also dropped, but by 0.4%, vs the 0.8% in Highline.
State Math scores actually increased by 0.6%, compared to the drop of 0.4% in Highline.

Highline scores continue to be far below the levels of 2018 and 2019:

Highline ELA has dropped 15.6%. Essentially we’ve gone from half the students meeting standard to one-third. The state ELA has also dropped, but not by as much (15.6% drop in Highline, vs a 9.1% drop for the state)
Highline Math has dropped by even more than the ELA, and the gap is also bigger between the district and the state.