OLYMPIA – A state rule threatening to keep hundreds of high school seniors from obtaining diplomas is on the verge of being eliminated.
Today, state senators unanimously approved legislation axing the requirement for students to take the math portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning annually, even if they keep failing it, while also taking math classes.
The measure previously passed the House and will now go to Gov. Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it next week.
Across the state, students did not take the math WASL in the spring of 2008, wrongly assuming they could skip the test and be eligible to graduate as long as they kept passing math classes through their senior year.
As a result, up to 1,000 students in Snohomish County faced a threat of being denied a diploma despite meeting every other graduation requirement, said Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo, the bill’s author.
“This takes away a hurdle that would have been a barrier to them graduating,” he said.
A 2007 law required students to retake the math WASL once a year through their senior year while also taking math classes.
Under Liias’s bill, high school students will no longer have to take the math WASL annually. They will have to take it at least once.
Meanwhile, the face of student assessments is changing and so might the rules.
State schools Superintendent Randy Dorn plans to unveil a slate of new state exams next year. He plans to dump the WASL and replace it with new assessments in reading, writing, math and science.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623, jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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