10th-grade scores up; 45% pass

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 8, 2006

Nathan Cave, 16, is $100 richer after winning a bet with his mom by passing all three sections of the WASL.

The greater value, though, is in checking off a key graduation requirement.

“It showed I had a lot more smarts than I thought I had,” said the Darrington High School junior with a grade-point average hovering between a C and a B. “It made me feel I could do more.”

The state on Friday released results from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. The reading and math tests were given in the spring to students in third through 10th grades. Some grades also tested in writing and science.

Scores statewide took a surprising dip in fourth and seventh grades. That perplexed educators.

But much of the pressure and focus this year has been on 10th-grade scores.

Teenagers are now required to pass the reading, writing and math tests to graduate. Cave and the rest of the class of 2008, last school year’s sophomores, are the first to fall under the new rule.

High school passing rates rose statewide. Still, just 45.1 percent of students passed all three exams.

Among schools in Snohomish County, the WASL passing rate ranged from 63.4 percent at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo to 32.8 percent at Granite Falls High School.

Just 10 high schools in Snohomish and Island counties, plus the Northshore School District, saw more than half their sophomores pass all three exams.

Small rural schools as well as large urban schools – places where more students tend to come from low-income families – face the biggest obstacles.

The average poverty rate was 25 percent at schools where less than half of sophomores passed the WASL. By comparison, schools where more than half of students passed the WASL had an average poverty rate of 15 percent.

Many of the most disadvantaged schools are posting some of the most impressive improvements over past scores, however.

Lynnwood High School, for instance, saw gains ranging from 15 percent to 20 percent. Nearly 87 percent of sophomores passed reading and 81 percent writing.

Behind those numbers are leaps among immigrant students learning English as a second language. A year ago, only 13 percent of Lynnwood High English-language learners passed the reading exam. This year, nearly half did. Forty percent passed the writing exam, more than double the percentage from a year ago.

“The graduation requirement is a lot of motivation,” LHS teacher Risa Ford said. “It is going to be a challenge for a lot of our kids.”

Math persists as the biggest hurdle across the board.

Passing rates in reading and writing continue to rise more rapidly, even though those scores already are substantially higher.

Statewide, high school passing rates went up 9 percentage points in reading; up 14.5 points in writing; and up 3.5 points in math.

State Superintendent Terry Bergeson said the WASL scores reflects a national struggle to overcome denial about the importance of math for every student.

Requiring the math test for a diploma will be a hot topic this fall among state leaders, she said.

Bergeson said she doesn’t believe in removing the requirement, but could see extending a hand to teenagers furthest behind by looking instead at their progress.

“We can’t leave kids in the lurch for something we haven’t prepared them for,” Bergeson said.

Many teenagers were close to passing the WASL.

Statewide, more 19,600 students who missed the graduation mandate failed just one subject. For nine out of 10, it was math. In addition, most students who failed one test – 74 percent – were close to passing.

“We’ve got a good shot” with those students, Bergeson said.

The state plans to identify math materials that complement the WASL. In the meantime, Bergeson urged schools to give struggling students a “double dose,” with both a regular math class and individualized support.

High school passing rates could get another boost in late October, when the state releases the results of August retakes. In all, 10,000 students retook one or more portions of the exam, 30 percent of those eligible.

Students have two retake opportunities each year on the subjects they miss. And alternative options, such as good grades, could help others who don’t test well.

The Snohomish School District saw nearly half of its sophomores – across alternative and traditional programs – pass the WASL. That was the best performance of any Snohomish County school district.

“I’m proud of the hard work our teachers are putting out. … We still have a long ways to go,” Snohomish Superintendent Bill Mester said.

Edmonds-Woodway High School had one of the best WASL passing rates in the county.

More than 90 percent of its students passed the reading and writing exams. In math, 67 percent passed, 16 percent higher than the state average.

Edmonds-Woodway Principal Alan Weiss is proud but worries about struggling math students.

“My biggest concern is urgency,” he said.

Weiss would like to see more money invested in math teachers assigned to elementary schools where they can help students catch on before they fall too far behind.

As they grapple with math, many educators also are trying to determine why scores among younger students fell.

Average math passing rates among Snohomish County fourth-graders dropped for the first time since schools first started giving the WASL in 1997.

Fourth-grade math scores at area schools fell by as many as 31 percentage points.

Many seventh-grade scores also dropped, particularly in reading.

One reason may be the stress of adding reading and math exams in four other grades this year. Passing rates on new tests – in third, fifth, sixth and eighth grades – were already breaking 90 percent at many schools.

Everett Superintendent Carol Whitehead last month wrote a letter with some of her Snohomish County colleagues asking the state to review the falling scores.

“This year’s WASL scores are troubling, but our own measurements of seventh-grade reading tell us that our students are improving,” Whitehead said. “Therefore, we will hold the course and expect to see this year’s strange statistical anomaly become just a blip on an upward trend over time.”

Superintendent Bergeson said the state reviewed the test and its scoring methods. “I’m very confident in the accuracy of what we’ve done,” she said.

She noted that some of the same questions were used on the seventh-grade exam this year as last year, and students this year scored lower.

School districts will send individual students’ score reports home to families. Most should arrive in mailboxes by Sept. 22.

Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@ heraldnet.com.