I was very happy to read that Booth Gardner has joined the fight to make the WASL just one of many options available for students to demonstrate their readiness to graduate from our public schools.

Our schools tend to define success along the following lines: students passing mostly predetermined classes to accomplish externally imposed learning goals that will supposedly “pay off” in some hypothetical future. These classes and academic goals may have little personal meaning or relevance to a particular student, especially as the focus becomes greater and greater on passing the WASL. It’s no wonder that many become too bored, discouraged, or disillusioned to jump through the 12 years of hoops required for a high school diploma, much less to pass a one-size-fits all standardized test that very narrowly defines learning and intelligence to exclude a huge percentage of our young people with a diverse array of strengths in other areas.

The education we need is not about “passing classes.” It’s about creating a community that nurtures, supports, connects, stimulates, and challenges young people as they grow into unique, passionate adults, good human beings, engaged citizens and life-long learners. The very possibility of “failure” needs to be erased from our thinking.

Tragically, school is a place where many experience what is tantamount to rejection by adult society. For these students, the generation gap becomes an unbridgeable chasm that may haunt them their entire lives.

Our schools must be viable, accessible bridges to the larger community and to adulthood for all students.

We can start by ending our destructive obsession with high-stakes testing and providing meaningful alternatives for our kids to show that they are ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. Let’s work together to really make sure that no child gets left behind.

Jim Strickland

Teacher, Marysville Junior High