District responds to WASL changes
April 30, 2008
By Laura Geggel
To graduate high school, the class of 2014 will not have to worry about the math WASL.
Instead, another math test awaits them – the end-of-course assessments.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill March 26 to eliminate the WASL – otherwise know as the Washington Assessment of Student Learning – math test by 2014. In the interim, Snoqualmie Valley School District will be implementing a few changes to keep pace with the changing math scene.
“The class of 2008 was the first year (the math WASL) was supposed to be a requirement to graduate,” said Gayle Smith, the district’s math technology teacher on special assignment. About 43 percent of Mount Si High School’s sophomores and 50 percent of 10th graders statewide did not meet standards on the 2007 math WASL.
Alarmed about the wave of seniors who would be barred from graduating, the state legislature changed the graduation requirement. Classes graduating from 2008 to 2012 will still have to pass the math WASL, which earns them a Certificate of Academic Achievement. If students in the class of 2008 do not meet math WASL standards, they can graduate without a Certificate of Academic Achievement by passing a year of math after their junior year. Students from the class of 2009-2012 who do not meet math WASL standards will be required to take two years of math or its career equivalent in addition to retaking the math WASL.
Students can graduate without a Certificate of Academic Achievement until 2013, but those who want a certificate, which will appear on their transcript, can earn it one of three other ways.
First, the student can use scores from the SAT, ACT or advanced placement exams to prove they have key mathematical skills. Students graduating in 2008 and 2009 can also use PSAT scores. Second, students can submit examples of their math work to the state to show they are competent in the material. Third, a senior’s grades in math can be compared to the grades of other students who took the same courses and passed the WASL.
Younger students in grades three through eight will be taking a shorter math WASL with fewer free response questions. The shorter exam saves money by decreasing the training and grading time for WASL evaluators, Smith said.
Washington state’s entire K-12 math curriculum is also changing.
“The organization that did the (math) revision looked at other countries and other states to see how our state compared,” said Smith. “Their conclusion was that the Washington standards lacked rigor and specificity.”
The new standards are still being approved by the state legislature, but will shift which topics are learned in what grade. The 2008-09 school year will be a transitional math year, meaning that teachers will start teaching parts of the new standards in addition to the old standards. By 2010 the new standards will be in place, and an end-of-course assessment pilot will be offered.
The end-of-course math assessments required for graduation – algebra I and geometry – will be administered to high school students whenever they are enrolled in those particular courses. The algebra I assessment will be available to students in 2010, while geometry will be offered beginning in 2011. The assessments will not be mandatory until 2012, when the graduating class of 2014 are sophomores.
The class entering high school in 2009 will have the option of either passing the WASL as sophomores or passing the end-of-course assessments.
Washington state’s legislature is still working on options available to students in the graduating year of 2014 and after who do not pass the end-of-course assessments. As of now, students who fail the end-of-course assessments can submit examples of their work to the state or give satisfactory math ACT or SAT or advanced placement test scores to graduate.
Smith hopes that the new math standards will help students learn the material and prepare them for the future.
“Recent articles have been published that make it apparent the United States is falling behind because we are not providing a strong enough math education for our students,” said Smith. “Before, if you weren’t good in math, it didn’t matter as much because we weren’t in such a technological age. You really need more math skills to prepare you for the world that we work in now.”
Reporter Laura Geggel can be reached at 392-6434 x221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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I think the whole wasl is stupid because now i got to take math tell i graduate because i did not pass the test. Whats the point in the grade in math if it does not count unless you pass math wasl. I think passing the wasl to graduate is dumb for any section. This should be removed and required to pass math classes.