WASL keeps fewer from high school diploma

Thirty seniors across Snohomish County met all graduation requirements except one: passing state reading or writing exams.

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning is the lone obstacle between those students and their diplomas.

That's a fraction compared with the number of seniors who didn't graduate because they fell shy of academic credits, school leaders say.

"The reasons why students aren't graduating is not that they didn't score high enough on the WASL," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said. "It's that they didn't have enough credits."

In the Edmonds School District, just two students from a graduating class of 1,353 seniors didn't get a diploma solely because of the WASL. Twenty-one others who didn't pass the WASL also had other graduation requirements keeping them from receiving a diploma.

A year ago, there were more than 70 Snohomish County students who didn't graduate with their classmates in June because of the WASL.

Statewide, nearly 93 percent of this year's high school seniors have passed both the reading and writing portions of the WASL, or an approved alternative, according to results released Thursday. That includes seniors who had the academic credits to graduate and those who did not.

This year's seniors are the second class that needs to meet the state's new graduation requirements, which include the reading and writing portions of the WASL, but not math, which had a higher failure rate.

The seniors still have other opportunities to make the grade: They can retake the WASL in August or submit a "collection of evidence," an alternative way of satisfying the requirement. Some are appealing their WASL test results.

At Lakewood High School, just one senior didn't graduate as a result of the WASL. Principal Dale Leach said he is confident that student will pass the WASL after a state assessment panel reviews a portfolio that student submitted.

Arlington, Stanwood and Sultan didn't have any students miss graduation solely because of the WASL.

In Everett, all seven seniors who didn't receive a diploma because of the WASL are immigrants enrolled in English Language Learner classes.

The district will offer a summer school program for 36 students learning English as a second language to help them prepare portfolios demonstrating their reading or writing abilities as an alternative way to pass the WASL.

Terry Edwards, chief academic officer for the Everett School District, said it is remarkable to him that so many recent immigrants pass the state exam, which tests to a 10th-grade level. Still, he sees a trend that a large percentage of those high school students failing the WASL are new to the country. He wonders: "Are we setting up an artificial barrier for kids from a certain group?"

In Darrington, just one student didn't graduate because he fell short on the reading WASL.

He was so close that he is appealing his score by asking state officials to review a portion of his test booklet, said Darrington High Principal Dave Holmer. If that doesn't work, he will retake the exam in August.

"He will still graduate," Holmer said. "That's our belief. It just takes more time. He's not going to quit."



Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.