Federal Way Public Schools Among 10 Highest Performing Districts in State
Federal Way Public Schools has emerged as one of the top districts in the state in data comparisons run by the Washington School Research Center at Seattle Pacific University (SPU). Over the next two months, researchers from the center will visit 10 high performing districts for the purpose of identifying the common characteristics of successful school districts.
To select districts for this study, the staff from the Washington School Research Center examined data on 293 school districts in Washington State. Districts were selected for this study based on several factors, including the socio-economic status of the students in the district and the overall success of students on the 4th grade WASL from 1999 through 2003.
The research will consist primarily of a day-long visit to the district, during which administrators and teachers will participate in interviews and focus groups. The center is funding substitutes so that teachers are available for focus groups at no cost to the district.
“We consider the work you are doing with students extremely important and effective,” School Information Services Director Duane B. Baker, Ed.D., said in a letter to Federal Way Superintendent Thomas R. Murphy. “The results of this research will be made available to all educators in the state, and we hope it will help further the progress of school reform. Please consider this as a recognition of the fine work you are doing in the Federal Way School District and a chance to share your successes with others.“
Since 1996, Federal Way Public Schools has been on a course of transforming its schools to improve the academic success of all students. Many factors have helped drive these changes.
Our world and our economy are changing from an industrial society to one based on services and technology. Schools need to change to provide our children with the skills to excel in that environment.
There are other urgent reasons. Beginning with the graduating class of 2008, the state will require that all students pass all four areas of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning to graduate. They’ll also need to complete a 13th-year plan and a culminating project to graduate – in addition to earning the 23.5 credits that our district currently requires. The reauthorization of the Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (commonly known as No Child Left Behind) has raised the requirements even further.
In 1996, the Federal Way Board of Education looked ahead and determined that meeting the state’s then newly announced graduation requirements would require a serious re-thinking of how the district provides an education to its students.
A transition to middle schools and four-year high schools in the fall of 2003 was one of the first changes identified. However, simply shuffling grades could not produce the necessary improvements. It required looking at many factors and finding successful models that could be replicated in the district. These factors included family involvement, and environmental and instructional structures, including smaller learning “communities,” advisory, student portfolios, student led conferences, and many more.
To read more about the district’s transition efforts, go the http://www.fwps.org/info/transition/standards.html.