Students may get a WASL reprieve

OLYMPIA – Faced with the reality that nearly half the state’s high school juniors have failed a math test that’s supposed to be a graduation requirement next year, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday proposed a three-year reprieve.

Under her plan, students in the Classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010 would still have to take the test – as well as rigorous math classes until graduation. But no longer would their diplomas hinge on passing the controversial Washington Assessment of Student Learning. That would start with the Class of 2011.

“I will not penalize these students because the system did not get it right for them,” she said.

The change – which state lawmakers would have to approve – would come as a big relief to many students and teachers.

“We hoped something like this would come along,” said Spokane Education Association President Maureen Ramos.

The union supports strong standards, Ramos said. But she said it’s a mistake to tie any single high-stakes test to graduation, particularly one as allegedly flawed and unreliable as the WASL.

“Anybody who has any credibility about assessments says that that’s crazy,” Ramos said.

At the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation, Marsha Michaelis agreed that the WASL isn’t a perfect measure. But she said the high failure rates in math and science suggest that state “tweaking” won’t fix the problem.

“The (10th grade) WASL is generally considered to be an eighth-grade test,” she said. “The fact that half the 10th-graders in the state can’t pass that points to a huge problem.”

Yet the problem isn’t new, she said. The WASL stems from a package of school reforms that lawmakers passed in 1993.

“It’s not like we haven’t had any time to put into place something that works,” Michaelis said.

At a news conference at the state Capitol, Gregoire insisted that she’s not blinking in the push for tougher standards and school accountability. But it would be unfair, she said, to apply the standard to students who haven’t had the benefit of educational reforms that she and lawmakers are planning.

“This isn’t about just what we do with 10th-graders,” she said. “… This is about how we get it right from the beginning.”

For more than a decade, Washington students have taken the test at grades four, seven and 10. But for the Class of 2008 and their successors, passing the reading, writing and math sections is now a graduation requirement. Starting with the Class of 2010, so is passing the science section.

On average, the Class of 2008 is faring fairly well in reading and writing, passing by 82 percent and 80 percent respectively. But nearly half – 49 percent – of the Class of 2008 failed the math section last school year, according to Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson. That’s 32,000 students.

Of those, Bergeson said, the most worrisome are the 13,000 whose scores were below even basic-level math.

Gregoire also hinted Monday that she may have to take the same step for science, where the numbers are even worse: only 35 percent passed.

Spokane Class of 2008 students scored slightly better than the statewide average in math and science and slightly worse in reading and writing. Spokane Public Schools also require three years of high school math, rather than the state-required two, according to associate superintendent Nancy Stowell.

Two years ago, worried lawmakers changed the law to allow for multiple re-takes of the WASL. Last year, they also allowed alternative testing methods for students who repeatedly fail. And they budgeted $28.5 million for additional teaching to help students pass.

But Gregoire said she feared that students would become discouraged and stop trying or quit school.

The low math scores, she feels, “are a grade on our system.”

Gregoire, aided by her “Washington Learns” task force, are proposing various reforms, particularly in math and science education. Among them:

“More problem-solving, numbers and measurement in elementary schools, to build a solid base for algebra and beyond;

“More teacher training;

“More “instructional coaches” – a program pioneered in the Spokane Public Schools – to inspire and motivate teachers;

“Creating one or two statewide math curricula that districts could choose to adopt, instead of the 45 to 50 versions that the state’s 296 school districts now use. The goal: ensuring that transfer students aren’t baffled by a whole new curriculum.

“That’s not state control. That’s best practices,” Gregoire said. “… If the state’s going to spend money, it’s going to spend money on results.”