Editorial

The telltale signs of spring are everywhere: grass growing, buds bursting and WASL tests are out.

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning test, the WASL, is growing in importance and comprehensiveness. Like most things in the garden, it could benefit from a knowing and gentle hand to help it fulfill the promise and hope held by the gardener when it was planted.

The importance of the WASL to some students is taking root because the date on which it will actually mean something to them is looming. The first students who will need to pass the WASL to graduate from high school are now in eighth grade.

The test is broadening its reach this year when those same eighth-graders, along with students in fifth and 10th grades, take the first-time science test.

Still, while WASL scores mean everything to teachers, administrators, legislators and federal officials holding the No Child Left Behind purse strings, they have no practical implications for the students. Pass or fail, students know they are better served by studying for next week’s vocabulary test than sweating the details of a standardized test that doesn’t impact their grades.

The Legislature made the right move this past session in adjusting graduation requirements. Hopefully, it is a sign that, as most gardeners know, the way to help something grow – even public education – is by nurturing and providing the things it needs, not threatening to yank it out by the roots.