As pressure mounts to help teenagers pass the WASL, more schools are adding required courses for students in danger of failing the state tests.
Lake Stevens and Stanwood high schools next fall will add literacy and math courses for selected freshmen and sophomores who fell short on the reading, writing or math sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning in seventh grade.
They follow the lead of other schools, including Lynnwood and Mariner, which have offered similar required courses in reading the last few years.
“The more practice the better,” said Elizabeth Wetzel, a Lake Stevens teacher helping design its pre-WASL literacy course.
Passing the WASL becomes a graduation requirement with the class of 2008, this year’s freshmen. Statewide, 35 percent of last year’s sophomores fell below standards in reading and writing, 56 percent in math.
Besides seventh-grade WASL scores, Stanwood and Lake Stevens high schools will look at students’ current grades and teacher recommendations.
In all, 63 incoming ninth-graders at Stanwood High School out of a class of 490 will be placed into a two-year block of algebra and geometry classes. Eighty students were identified as needing the combined reading and writing class.
Lake Stevens has yet to identify students, though the pool includes 189 incoming ninth-graders for math, 46 for reading and 88 for writing from a class of about 620.
“These are the students who are the furthest away from meeting standards and need additional support and time,” said Steve Webb, assistant superintendent for secondary education in Lake Stevens.
Starting in 2006, Lake Stevens juniors also will be required to take test-preparation courses if they fail the WASL.
Stanwood-Camano School District has sent letters to parents of identified students telling them about the courses.
Some families are concerned because the courses eat up the only elective slot freshmen have, Principal Jan Schuette said. “We are suggesting students hold off on the PE requirement and still take an elective.”
Making the classes required is key, said Tami Nesting, a reading specialist at Mariner, which has had a required class for struggling readers for five years.
“Their days are filled. If we don’t require it, it’s hard to get them to do it,” Nesting said.
The reading class at Mariner is part of a broader effort to promote literacy, and scores on the WASL and another in-district test have gone up, she said.
Some students in the class still are mastering the English language. And although the class did not help all of them pass the WASL reading test, Nesting said they did better than predicted.
Francisco Espinoza, 17, a junior, said he missed the WASL reading standard last year by one point but the reading class helped him in other ways.
“It made me like reading, and now I read more,” said Espinoza, whose first language is Spanish.
Other school districts are avoiding required classes.
Darrington is among those to offer voluntary courses in reading and math for identified students. The school also will add a summer school option this year. Everett focuses on in-class support and before- and after-school study clubs. Others are considering their options, including Marysville.
“The issue is significant,” Superintendent Larry Nyland said. “We have about half of our secondary students below proficiency level.
“Some may be ‘on the bubble’ or may not have tried their best. That still leaves one-quarter to one-third that need significant help.”
The district has talked about “mandatory electives,” but has not gone in that direction, he said. The focus now is on literacy, including extra teacher training.
At Lake Stevens, Wetzel said they are designing their new literacy course to be challenging.
“We want it to be something enduring,” she said, “not to just pass the test.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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