Most Stanwood High School sophomores won’t be taking the 10th-grade reading or writing WASL this spring.
That’s because they passed the high-stakes state exams a year early.
Stanwood High School is at the forefront of the growing trend with early-bird freshmen taking the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning.
More than 21,000 of the state’s 80,000 freshmen attempted the WASL exam last spring. That was up from about 12,000 last year and 6,000 in 2006, the first year ninth graders could take the high school WASL.
Participation rates varied from a smattering of freshmen at some Snohomish County high schools to nearly all at others. Statewide, 22 percent of last year’s freshmen have already passed the reading WASL; 24 percent, the writing, and 13 percent, the math.
Stanwood school leaders strongly encouraged but couldn’t require ninth-graders to take the exams. In reading, for instance, 348 students took the WASL and 24 students opted out. The passing rate was 90.2 percent.
In writing, nearly 96 percent of the 343 freshmen taking the test posted passing scores.
“I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Michael Olson, the district’s director of school improvement. “It’s very similar to our sophomores.”
Forty-seven percent of freshmen passed the math exam. The lower passing rate is not surprising given the fact that many students had not yet been taught geometry and other areas tested on the 10th-grade WASL, officials said.
Stanwood’s decision to give students the exams a year early was largely parent driven, said high school principal Christine Gruver.
The previous year, freshmen took practice WASLs while sophomores and some upperclassmen did the real ones.
“They (parents) would say, ‘I would rather have my child doing the actual test,’ ” Gruver said. “We thought that may not be a bad idea.”
The school didn’t do anything special to prepare the freshmen, other than what they would already be learning in their classes, Gruver said.
Passing the WASL early allows students to cross the exams off their graduation requirement list. Students must pass the reading and writing WASL, or an alternative to the WASL, to graduate. They must either pass the math WASL or continue taking and passing math classes through their senior year to graduate.
Everett’s high schools also aggressively promoted taking the exams a year early with more than 1,200 freshmen giving it a shot.
“We started this as soon as they let us do it,” said Terry Edwards, Everett’s chief academic officer. “It has been so successful. I just scratch my head about why others don’t jump on the opportunity.”
At Cascade High School, more than 400 ninth-graders took the reading, writing and math WASLs last spring. Passing rates were 82 percent in reading, 87 percent in writing and 43 percent in math.
“We just encouraged as many as possible to try it,” said Laura King, who counsels students on meeting requirements to graduate on time. “I think that they are more relaxed to take it their freshman year because it is not a requirement and it gives them kind of a baseline to look at. A lot of them met standard and I think surprised themselves.”
Kanstantsin Ivanou was one of those relieved Cascade students.
The Belarus immigrant passed all three subjects despite having lived in the U.S. for less than two years. He failed the reading section of the test as an eighth-grader.
A year later, he figured he had nothing to lose: if he didn’t pass it the first time, he would take advantage of retakes.
“I looked at it as an opportunity to do my work early,” Ivanou said. “I didn’t even worry about how I (was) going to do.”
Everett High School counselor Nancy James said the early testing helps students who don’t pass realize what they have to work harder on and gives extra confidence to those who do.
“If they pass, they get to check off another graduation requirement,” James said. “It doesn’t hurt them if they don’t. It can only help them.”
Many school districts haven’t pushed the option of taking the WASL a year early.
“We have encouraged some students, but we don’t encourage all of them to take it, in part because the test is geared toward 10th-grade standards,” said Marie Riche, a spokeswoman for the Snohomish School District. “We want those ninth-graders who do take the test to be able to be successful.”
Students have five chances in each subject to pass the WASL and the attempt in the freshman year counts as one of those tries.
Last spring, about 20 students in the district took the WASL early, but more might be giving it an early shot in the future.
“Our high school principals are looking at the issue and whether they would want to encourage more ninth-graders to take the test,” Riche said. “We are talking about this issue and what would be best for our students.”
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