Dumb to not let freshmen take test

For the last five years the freshmen in the high school where I teach have taken the WASL. About 80 percent of these ninth graders pass the reading and writing exams. Most freshmen want to take this exam, demonstrate that they know these basic skills and get this graduation requirement out of the way so they can move forward with learning more advanced skills to prepare them for various pathways after graduation.

Randy Dorn, the new superintendent of public instruction, announced a mere month before the exam that this year’s freshmen won’t have the chance to take the test this spring, a test that is very much like the annual exams they’ve been taking for the entirety of their public education. I understand that 35,000 Washington freshmen have already signed up to take the test this spring. Now they can’t. Instead they’ll have a chance to pass an exam with a different name and different format, an exam that Mr. Dorn assures the public will be ready next year. It might be on a computer, or it might not. It might assess the same skills with the same kinds of questions, or it might not. It might have federal approval, or it might not. One thing we know for sure is that this mystery test will be a graduation requirement.

I miss Terry Bergeson.

Sarah Kelsey

Teacher, Everett Public Schools