At-risk students — including those who have disabilities, are homeless or face economic challenges — continue to struggle to meet statewide proficiency percentages on standardized tests.
The state released ISAT scores last week. Overall, this year’s results showed that 53.2% of test-takers were proficient in English language arts, 42.3% were proficient in math and 41.7% were proficient in science. None of the statewide scores changed by more than half a percentage point from last year.
Students who fall into marginalized or at-risk groups continued to fall below the statewide proficiency percentages. Top-performing districts tended to have a higher percentage of white students and a lower percentage of students with disabilities or students from low-income households. The opposite was true for low-performing districts.
Statewide demographics for K-12 public schools, according to the Idaho Report Card:
- 72% are white.
- 44% come from low-income families.
- 13% have learning disabilities.
ISAT scores by demographics
|
Household income |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
Not economically disadvantaged |
64.0 |
91,310 |
52.4 |
91,433 |
|
Economically disadvantaged |
40.1 |
74,895 |
30.1 |
75,618 |
|
Disabilities |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
Without disabilities |
58.9 |
144,912 |
46.7 |
145,676 |
|
With disabilities |
14.6 |
21,293 |
12.2 |
21,375 |
|
Foster care |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
Statewide |
53.2 |
166,205 |
42.3 |
167,051 |
|
Students in foster care |
28.2 |
393 |
19.6 |
111 |
|
Homelessness |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
Statewide |
53.2 |
166,205 |
42.3 |
167,051 |
|
Homeless students |
25.1 |
3,682 |
17.3 |
3,907 |
|
Sex |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
Female |
57.3 |
81,441 |
39.5 |
81,850 |
|
Male |
49.2 |
84,764 |
44.9 |
85,201 |
|
Race/ethnicity |
ELA proficiency |
# ELA test-takers |
Math proficiency |
# math test-takers |
|
White |
58.3 |
121,065 |
47.6 |
121,101 |
|
Hispanic/Latino |
35.8 |
33,419 |
24.4 |
34,054 |
|
Two or more races |
57.8 |
5,729 |
46.3 |
5,737 |
|
Black/African American |
29.0 |
1,889 |
17.7 |
1,967 |
|
Asian |
68.4 |
1,858 |
62.2 |
1,940 |
|
American Indian/Native Alaskan |
31.2 |
1,678 |
20.5 |
1,679 |
|
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander |
45.3 |
567 |
30.9 |
573 |
Analyzing ISAT scores from the 109 traditional school districts that had complete proficiency data, Idaho Education News compared demographics for the top and bottom performers in ELA and math.
The top 25 performers tended to exceed the statewide average of white students, and have lower percentages of students from low-income families and students with disabilities. The bottom 25 performers tended to fall on the other side of state averages. Most had fewer white students, more students from low-income households and more students with disabilities.
Among the top 25 performers on ELA assessments, median demographics are:
- 88% white students.
- 39% students from low-income households.
- 12% students with disabilities.
Among the bottom 25 performers on ELA assessments, median demographics are:
- 65% white students.
- 63% students from low-income households.
- 15% students with disabilities.
|
District |
% proficient |
% white |
% low income |
% w/ disability |
|
1. McCall-Donnelly |
78.3 |
87.6 |
29 |
11 |
|
2. Troy |
75.6 |
91.3 |
36 |
10 |
|
3. West Side |
71.0 |
92.4 |
45 |
11 |
|
4. Moscow |
71.0 |
83.2 |
29 |
14 |
|
5. Cottonwood |
70.6 |
95.7 |
27 |
14 |
|
6. West Ada |
70.0 |
74.8 |
30 |
11 |
|
7. Rockland |
67.7 |
99.4 |
39 |
6 |
|
8. North Gem |
66.2 |
95.5 |
46 |
20 |
|
9. Coeur d’Alene |
65.8 |
83.8 |
36 |
12 |
|
10. Kootenai |
65.3 |
94.3 |
42 |
13 |
|
11. Lake Pend Oreille |
64.6 |
86.9 |
39 |
15 |
|
12. Dietrich |
64.4 |
67.6 |
52 |
18 |
|
13. Grace |
62.3 |
89.3 |
47 |
9 |
|
14. Nezperce |
62.1 |
86.7 |
54 |
9 |
|
15. Lakeland |
62.0 |
87.6 |
35 |
12 |
|
16. New Plymouth |
61.9 |
81.0 |
38 |
10 |
|
17. Genesee |
61.9 |
92.6 |
24 |
13 |
|
18. Wallace |
61.7 |
95.5 |
50 |
22 |
|
19. Swan Valley Elementary |
61.5 |
92.5 |
45 |
17 |
|
20. Murtaugh |
61.2 |
55.1 |
59 |
7 |
|
21. Bear Lake County |
60.9 |
93.8 |
45 |
12 |
|
22. Middleton |
59.7 |
82.3 |
31 |
10 |
|
23. Ririe |
59.2 |
91.5 |
45 |
13 |
|
24. Shelley |
59.0 |
82.1 |
40 |
12 |
|
25. Lewiston |
58.5 |
85.8 |
37 |
14 |
|
Median |
62 | 88 | 39 | 12 |
|
District |
% proficient |
% white |
% low income |
% w/ disability |
|
85. Blackfoot |
41.6 |
59.2 |
55 |
16 |
|
86. West Bonner County |
41.5 |
94.0 |
50 |
13 |
|
87. Madison |
41.3 |
85.8 |
35 |
13 |
|
88. Potlatch |
40.7 |
90.7 |
39 |
23 |
|
89. Richfield |
40.6 |
71.1 |
75 |
12 |
|
90. Kellogg |
40.3 |
92.3 |
78 |
16 |
|
91. Glenns Ferry |
40.2 |
61.3 |
63 |
17 |
|
92. Minidoka County |
39.3 |
49.9 |
61 |
13 |
|
93. Castleford |
38.7 |
62.9 |
73 |
12 |
|
94. West Jefferson |
37.1 |
73.6 |
59 |
11 |
|
95. Notus |
37.1 |
65.1 |
42 |
16 |
|
96. Horseshoe Bend |
36.1 |
88.3 |
54 |
27 |
|
97. Wendell |
35.0 |
37.6 |
74 |
11 |
|
98. Lapwai |
33.3 |
6.6 |
21 |
18 |
|
99. Mullan |
32.4 |
81.4 |
34 |
13 |
|
100. Caldwell |
32.3 |
30.8 |
100 |
16 |
|
101. South Lemhi |
31.4 |
90.9 |
59 |
6 |
|
102. Council |
31.2 |
91.0 |
46 |
17 |
|
103. Jerome |
30.7 |
38.1 |
64 |
11 |
|
104. Clark County |
30.2 |
43.0 |
74 |
15 |
|
105. Culdesac |
30.0 |
71.9 |
93 |
20 |
|
106. Wilder |
27.8 |
40.4 |
71 |
19 |
|
107. Payette |
26.7 |
60.2 |
71 |
11 |
|
108. Plummer-Worley |
26.6 |
19.0 |
98 |
29 |
|
109. Highland |
22.5 |
77.6 |
63 |
12 |
|
Median |
36 |
65 |
63 |
15 |
EdNews data analyst Randy Schrader contributed to this report.
