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WASL scores migrate to Web

More districts offer online information

By Eric Stevick, Herald Writer

Parents in some local school districts won't have to wait until the end of the month to learn how their child performed on the spring WASL.

The information is already at their fingertips.

School districts typically send results from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning to parents by the end of September, but Diana Pavek of Mill Creek was able to check on her son's sixth-grade scores from her computer at home last week.

"It was really helpful," she said. "I have friends who were very concerned about whether their kids passed and I said, 'You can go online.' "

While local districts offer computer access to grade books maintained by teachers, few use the technology to post WASL scores of individual students, particularly in the younger grades. That's likely to change in years ahead, local officials predict.

Getting the results earlier can be helpful for parents because they can begin to work with schools sooner to tailor education plans to individual students who might struggle, said Molly O'Connor, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

At the same time, the information can also suggest if a student should be considered for a higher-level class, Pavek said.

Her son's scores were posted in the Everett School District's Parent Access Center, which also provides an online grade book for middle and high school students. Parents must register online with a user name and password, to protect each student's information.

The Mukilteo School District also provided scores for parents who register on their Parent Connect software system.

Edmonds is also planning to post scores soon for individual parent access, and Arlington has scores available for older students.

All school districts plan to send written reports home later this month, which will include more detailed information than is available online.

School districts received paper versions of those reports more than a week ago from the state, but it takes time to sort them and make sure the right scores get to parents.

It can be a major undertaking in large school districts, such as Edmonds, which has more than 11,000 student reports to distribute.

"We are working as hard as we can to be efficient and accurate," said Jennifer Aaby, an Edmonds School District spokeswoman. "It's a lot of work for 35 schools and programs. It takes a lot of organization and a lot of hours."

Schools have to insert letters and other information into the envelopes. That can be challenging with many of the results accompanied by letters that are translated into different languages for immigrants.

"That's the hard part, putting all the pieces together, making sure the right test is matched to the right envelope and to make sure the contents of the at envelope match that student," said Andy Muntz, a Mukilteo School District spokesman.

Schools are given leeway on how they choose to distribute results. They can provide scores at open houses and curriculum nights, send them home with students or mail them home.

When it comes to posting WASL scores online, some smaller districts with limited staffing are watching their bigger neighbors.

"I think we'll let Everett and other districts work out all the bugs and then we will give them a call," said Allen Sharples, a spokesman for the Lakewood School District.

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or e-mail stevick@heraldnet.com.