Oak Harbor schools proved their merit in the 2013-14 standardized test scores.

In the 25 tested areas and grades, 23 of those areas were at or above the state’s average, with 18 of those areas being significantly higher.

The three areas with the largest positive difference to the state average were seventh grade reading, with 11.6 percent difference, seventh grade writing, with 8.5 percent difference, and fifth grade math, with 8 percent difference.

“It looks like we’re making good progress on the work we’ve been doing for a number of years,” said Assistant Superintendent Steve King. “It’s positive indications for us.”

Oak Harbor schools Superintendent Lance Gibbon said that for a long time, district scores were very even with state averages.

“Seeing that separation, seeing the improvement in learning … seeing that all pay off is really rewarding,” Gibbon said.

There were a few areas that, while considered “at” state average, were slightly below, but no more than by 1.8 percent.

Two areas, however, were below the state average. Eighth grade math was 3.4 percent below state average, but King said the district doesn’t know why. He said it’s something principals and teachers will have to look into improving this year.

The other area where there was a negative difference was fourth grade writing, 13.6 percent lower than state average. This drop, however, is easily understandable.

During the 2014-15 school year, standardized testing will change from the Measurements of Student Progress tests to Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium tests, which King said are completely different in the writing department, as it combines writing and reading comprehension instead of having two separate tests for it.

With the old testing, students wrote essays based off a prompt, but in the new testing, the writing assignments are based off of a provided text and using the information in that to “generate a narrative,” Gibbon explained.

Last school year, the district focused on getting students prepared for the new common core standards instead of teaching to the test that they had, King said.

The hope is that the change in focus will pay off this year and in future years.

“That’s our hope,” King said. “When we decided to focus on the Smarter Balance and the common core standards … the hope will be that in the long term, it will help us more.”

The change is being made on a state and national level, with some states having already made the change.

The expectation is that test scores in Washington state will drop some because of the change, King said, but added he hopes that in the writing level, it will even out with state averages at least.

“The majority of it really isn’t significantly different,” Gibbon said. “Much of what we’ve been doing, we’ll continue to do.”

Gibbon added that test scores in the state as a whole are expected to drop with the change.

“Initially, the results statewide are going to be down,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean the students aren’t proficient, it just means that they’re adjusting to the standards and they’re adjusting to the test.”