A Message from the Department of Teaching and Learning

Dear tenth and eleventh grade families,

This spring, Bellingham Public Schools will again give annual state high school assessments.

• Tenth grade students take the Smarter Balanced tests for English language arts (ELA) and math.
• Eleventh grade students take the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS).
• Some students in grades 11 and 12 will be retaking Smarter Balanced ELA and Math tests to satisfy their graduation pathway requirements.

These assessments give students, families and schools valuable data that helps us understand student and school strengths and challenges compared to peers in the district and across Washington state.

Your child’s school will send follow-up information about upcoming testing dates.

Graduation pathways and requirements

Although assessments are only one measure of a student’s success, they measure if students meet or exceed grade-level standards and satisfy our state and federal accountability requirements.

Assessments are also one measure of college and career readiness by high school graduation. For high school students, passing scores in English language arts and mathsatisfy state pathways to graduation. For more information on high school graduation requirements and pathways, see pages 4-7 of our 2022-23 high school course catalog.

About the assessments

The Smarter Balanced tests include performance tasks that allow students to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They also include a computer-adaptive test component to provide more accurate scores for students across a wide range of achievement. Practice tests are available for students to ensure they are comfortable with the software. To view these, see the state practice test link at http://bellinghamschools.org/families/academics/assessments/.

When will results be available?

Preliminary results from the Smarter Balanced English language arts and mathematics tests will be available to schools electronically within three to four weeks after a student completes testing. Results from the science test will be available in fall 2023. In the fall, the state provides official score reports that we post to Skyward Family Access.

Putting testing in perspective

The Bellingham Promise, the district’s strategic plan, guides everything we do for our students, families, community and staff. One of The Promise’s core beliefs is to focus on the whole child. State tests are only one benchmark; other measures and evidence are just as important in assessing the development of our kids. We encourage you to keep these tests in perspective of our overall goals.

For additional information about state testing and our state learning standards, please visit the state’s website at www.k12.wa.us/student-success.