Girls outperform boys on WASL

"Statistical breakdowns of the Central Kitsap School District's Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores show little difference between the races, but girls generally outperform boys.Central Kitsap Director of Research and Evaluation Linda Elman said the scores offer few surprises, although some of the scores might appear alarming.Some ethnic and racial groups fluctuated, while other groups took a WASL nose dive. In general, Hispanic students saw scores rise, while American Indian scores dropped.Elman warned, however, that the only scores that can really be looked at as revealing were the white and Asian American/Pacific Islander scores. Only those two groups have enough students to make up a reliable statistical sample. Since all the other groups have fewer than 25 students per age group taking the test, a few students could change the score drastically. She said the statistics for those groups will be looked at on more of an individual basis as opposed to what demographic they are in.With those scores, they are really going to be looking at those individual kids, Elman said. It's more of a school issue.Since the white and Asian American/Pacific Islander scores were close to each other, Elman said none of the racial and ethnic scores caused much of a stir.Elman was surprised that males' scores were low. Although boys scored higher than girls on math in all grades, boys scored lower than girls in all the other categories, especially writing.Whether it is cultural or genetic, boys can't seem to be able to commit something to writing, she said. Elman said many boys are doing well in the district's Advanced Placement English classes, so the scores are a bit surprising.I guess we're just going to have to make English more masculine, Elman said.Although the scores offered clues to what the district should do to make curriculum more appealing to certain demographics, Elman said the data needs further analysis before conclusions are drawn.Every time you get an answer it raises five more questions, she said. "

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