Continuous improvement in student achievement led to a special honor for Alpac Elementary and Pioneer Elementary in the Auburn School District, along with 97 other schools across the state.

Alpac and Pioneer received the 2011 School of Distinction Award from The Center for Educational Effectiveness (CEE), the Association of Educational Service Districts (AESD), the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP), Phi Delta Kappa-Washington Chapter (PDK-WA), Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), Washington State ASCD and Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA).

It represents the fifth annual School of Distinction award recognition in Washington State. Each regional Educational Service District will be hosting an award ceremony to recognize School of Distinction award winners.

Specifics of the methodology used to determine the winners:

• The 2011 performance, as with the previous five years, is translated into a “Reading/Math Level Index” and must meet the minimum threshold: at or above the state median for the grade band.

• Unlike previous years where enough longitudinal data only existed in grades 4, 7 and 10, it now has longitudinal data from 2006-2011 in all grades.

• Three grade bands are used for calculation: 3, 4, and 5 for elementary schools, 6, 7 and 8 for middle or junior high schools and 10 for high schools. A school must have data in two of three grades to be considered for that band.

• The final data point was calculated using the Measures of Student Progress (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade) and High School Proficiency Exam (10th grade) from spring 2011.

• Using data from 2006-2011, provides six data points which identifies five improvement steps.

• A Reading/Math Level Index is calculated for all grades in band … e.g. a K-8 school would be eligible in both elementary and middle/junior high bands.

• A school must have data in at least three of six years to be considered, one of which must be 2011.

• “Improvement” is defined as the slope of linear trend over the five years.

• The number of schools comprising 5% is based on the number of schools at each grade band with 2011 data.

Greg Lobdell, co-founder and president of CEE noted, “even though the diversity and context of the communities served by each of these schools across our state are vastly different, the hard work represented by this award is the same and the students are the real winners.”