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Incoming seniors in good shape on WASL graduation requirement
But many may be lacking in other graduation requirements
OLYMPIA - August 30, 2007 - As they return to school, the vast majority of seniors in Washington’s historic high school class of 2008 have already met one of their four state graduation requirements: passing both the reading and writing Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), State Superintendent Terry Bergeson announced today at her annual press conference on the WASL score results.
Of the incoming seniors in the class of 2008, 87.5 percent have met the state’s reading requirement and 87.5 percent have met the writing; 83.6 percent have met both the reading and writing requirements.
Most students fulfill this graduation requirement by passing the High School WASL. A small number of students meet the requirement by showing their skills on state-approved alternatives, which are available after a student tries the WASL once. Many students in special education programs also have testing options.
The pass rates take into account all students in the class of 2008 who were 11th graders last year, including the 5.6 percent who have yet to take the reading WASL and the 5.8 percent who have not yet taken the writing test. Among those who have tested, 92.6 percent have passed in reading and 95.3 percent have passed in writing.
These results do not include this summer’s WASL retakes. There will be another opportunity for students to pass the test in the spring. Individual student results from spring 2007 testing will be sent to families from their local school districts by the end of September.
This past spring, state lawmakers delayed until 2013 the requirement that students must pass the mathematics WASL to graduate. But passing the mathematics WASL or an approved alternative is still a requirement for students who want to graduate with the distinction of a Certificate of Academic Achievement. And those who have not passed the math WASL or alternative must continue earning math credits and retake the test each year to earn a high school diploma.
As of spring testing, 63 percent of those in the class of 2008 have passed the math WASL or an alternative. Among those who have taken the test, 67 percent have passed.
Meeting the WASL standards is just one of four state requirements for high school graduation in Washington state. To graduate, students must also accumulate enough course credits, develop a High School and Beyond Plan and complete a Culminating Project. In 2001, the State Board of Education set the graduation requirements to take effect with the graduating class of 2008. Students also need to meet any local graduation requirements.
"We have a diploma package in Washington that requires a 21st-century skill set," Superintendent Bergeson said. "More and more students are taking increasingly rigorous and focused course work. They are required to plan a secondary education program with their families to prepare them for their future. And the state WASL is the external validation of the key academic skills that will be essential no matter what career a student chooses."
To better understand where students stand against the testing and credit requirements, OSPI contracted with an independent researcher to analyze credit and test score data from several representative school districts. This analysis suggests that credit deficiency may well present a far larger and more widespread obstacle to graduation than passing the WASL. The state continues to explore partnerships with districts to track students’ progress on all four graduation requirements.
"We want all students to earn a meaningful diploma," Bergeson said. "We need to work with districts and high school principals and counselors and parents to find the kids who are at risk of coming up short – on the WASL or on credits or any graduation requirement – and get them the help they need to take this important step in their lives."
Education reform began in Washington state nearly 15 years ago and "We can’t lose sight of the reasons we began, or the tremendous progress we’ve made." Bergeson said. "Evidence of that improvement comes not only from long-term WASL trends, but from national measures. On the SAT, Washington state is No. 1 in the nation for the fifth consecutive year among states in which at least 30 percent of the students were tested, and our students’ scores on the ACT Assessment are third-highest in the nation."
But, Bergeson cautioned, we need to be focused on students long before their senior year.
"Students need to enter high school ready to tackle high-school level work and higher. Our high school students need our help right now to meet the new graduation requirements, but our younger students still need us, too."
This spring’s WASL testing in grades 3 through 8 and 10 showed mixed results, with third-graders showing marked improvement in reading and math over those tested in 2006, as well as gains in math scores in grades 5 and 7, and in writing scores for grades 7 and 10 but slippage in grade 4, 5 and 8 reading scores.
The WASL, Bergeson said, "continues to do its job. It shows us where we’ve made gains as a school system, and where we have a lot more work to do. And now that we’re testing every year, it can also help schools and families really track an individual student’s learning and, if necessary, get that student help sooner rather than later."
Attached is a grade level by grade level comparison between 2006 and 2007 WASL scores.
Detailed statewide WASL score results as well as individual school and district results are available online at: http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/
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