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.
• Your high school will send more specific information about dates, bell schedules and other plans for assessments.

These assessments give students, families and schools valuable data that helps us understand student and school academic strengths and challenges. Our schools use this data to adjust curriculum and instruction, and to work directly with students based on what the assessments show about reading, writing, math, and/or science outcomes.

Graduation pathways and requirements

Assessments are one measure of whether students meet or exceed grade-level standards and of their college and career readiness by high school graduation. For high school students, passing scores in English language arts and math satisfy state pathways to graduation. For more information on high school graduation requirements and pathways, see pages 4-7 of our 2024-25 high school course catalog.

About the assessments

The assessments are delivered online with numerous accessibility features. The Smarter Balanced tests use performance tasks and a computer-adaptive questions 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 English language arts and math assessments 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 2025. In the fall, the state provides official family 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. We also ask for your help in supporting students’ participation in the assessments, so that we can have the most accurate data possible for our students and our schools.

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