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Math WASL is out, individual tests in

Associated Press

OLYMPIA -- The math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning will be replaced by tests on individual math courses under a plan approved this week by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

State lawmakers voted to phase out the math WASL earlier this month, and Gregoire told the Associated Press she supported the switch. The Democratic governor signed the policy into law Wednesday.

The high school class of 2013 remains the first group of students who must pass a math test to graduate, but the state will give those students the option of passing either the WASL or individual course exams. In 2014, the math WASL will be jettisoned entirely.

Lawmakers have earmarked about $3.2 million to develop the individual course tests that would replace the math WASL.

Last year, Gregoire vetoed the option of testing students on individual course skills -- such as algebra or geometry -- instead of a comprehensive test, preferring to study the issue first.

Although she now favors the individual course tests, Gregoire has said it remains critical that the 2013 deadline for a math graduation requirement not be delayed any longer.

Last year, just 50.4 percent of 10th-graders who took the math section of the WASL passed, while 80.8 passed reading and 83.9 percent passed writing, according to the state schools superintendent.

By switching to individual course tests, educators may be able to more quickly detect students' weaknesses in different areas of math, said the bill's main legislative sponsor, Rep. Pat Sullivan, D-Covington.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said the change was a common-sense approach worth trying, in part because the state's new high school math standards are being organized by class.

School district superintendents would prefer that the state settle on one way of testing students and complete its rewrite of math standards, said Barbara Mertens, assistant director of the Washington Association of School Administrators.

"The greatest heartburn is that things keep changing," Mertens said.