Press Room   Press Releases   Publications   Photos   AWSP Blog - The Comp Book   Opinion Editorials/Letters   Articles   Multimedia   Contact Us

      Print this page
      Email to a friend

Home Press Room Articles

The Daily News
January 24, 2006

Kalama student touts WASL in Olympia

By Don Jenkins—Daily News staff writer

OLYMPIA -A Kalama High School student Monday asked lawmakers to stick with the state's high-stakes WASL exam and see how students perform this spring.

"These current requirements force students and schools to be accountable," senior Cody Traub told the House Education Committee. "It is the job of the educators and the state to ensure students are challenging themselves and meeting these standards."

A standing room-only crowd heard the committee take testimony on a trio of bills that would diminish the importance of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test, which all students will have to pass in order to graduate, beginning with the class of 2008.

For the first time with something at stake, sophomores will take the test this spring, and some lawmakers are ready to abandon or soften the WASL graduation requirement.

"I think we have to wait until the results come out this summer," said Traub, president of the Washington Association of Student Councils.

He said legislators should not back down from demanding that students meet high standards.

"Left to their own devices some students will not rise to the challenge of taking rigorous classes that will prepare them for life after high school," Traub said.

Outside the hearing room, Traub said he doesn't blame sophomores for being nervous about the WASL.

"If I were a sophomore, I would be scared, but I wouldn't say, 'We shouldn't do it,' " he said. "It's challenging, of course. That's the whole point.

"It's going to be difficult for some students," he said. "It's going to take the support of the state of Washington, parents, teachers, principals, school board members, everybody to ensure success in individual students."

Efforts to roll back WASL requirements are arising in part because many students are not passing all parts of the exam. Critics also say there are no alternatives for students to prove they can meet learning standards, though state educators are developing some.

Last year, only about roughly half of Washington's sophomores passed all three sections of the WASL, which tests students in math, reading and writing. Students can take the test up to five times.

Other states, such as Utah, also are battling efforts to roll back high-stakes testing. There, one in six high school seniors hasn't passed that state's exit exam to earn a diploma. Earlier this month, the Utah state board of education softened the requirement by awarding diplomas with notations, specifying whether students passed sections of the exam.

House Bill 2923, introduced by Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, D-Seattle, would eliminate the WASL as a graduation requirement. Instead, WASL scores would be only a small factor in judging whether a student merits a diploma. Grades on required courses would be more important.

House Bill 2998, introduced by Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, would require the State Board of Education to develop other ways to assess students besides the WASL.

House Bill 2902, introduced by Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon, would allow a student's math scores on other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, to serve as a substitute for WASL math scores.

Daily News reporter Hope Anderson contributed to this report.