The latest standardized testing data available for Clark County’s students reveals eighth-graders are struggling at similar rates in both English and math.
Students in grades three through eight and 10 take the Smarter Balanced Assessments in English Language Arts and math each year. For tests taken in spring 2023, 78.9 percent of eighth-graders in Evergreen Public Schools did not meet grade-level standards, and 76.8 percent of eighth graders in Vancouver Public Schools did not meet grade-level standards, according to the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
While still lagging behind state averages by about 10 percentage points, student math performance in both Vancouver and Evergreen has improved slightly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, data also shows students are still reaching proficiency at rates lower than before the pandemic in 2019.
School leaders in Clark County have cautioned that such standardized test scores are just one snapshot of a point in time and don’t tell the full picture of how students are doing.
