What to do with WASL will be test for lawmakers

OLYMPIA — For lawmakers, debate over Washington's statewide standardized test represents a volatile mix of race, education, high-stakes testing and a looming election. It's all set to ignite this legislative session.

The state projects that about 57 percent of this year's 10th-graders will pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). If those numbers prove true, about 34,000 high-school students will have to retake the test and do better to graduate in 2008, or show they've met state standards through an alternative assessment still being developed.

It's a jolting fact that worries many parents and teachers. Although there's no serious talk of getting rid of the test, the Washington Education Association (WEA), the state's largest teachers union, wants lawmakers to dump the WASL as the main graduation requirement. Business groups want them to keep it.

Both sides are promising consequences if legislators don't side with them. All of the House seats and about half of the Senate are up for election this fall.

It's not clear what will happen once the Legislature convenes beginning Monday. Although special interests are pushing both sides of the issue, there's no clear political dividing line.

"I've talked to ultra-conservative people who are strongly in support of the WASL and leaving it just as it is. I've talked to ultra-liberal people who believe the same thing," said Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee. "And I've talked to the same groups of people who feel the opposite."

WASL debate


Where the interest groups stand:

The Washington Education Association

The state's largest teachers union wants lawmakers to drop the WASL as the main graduation requirement and put more weight on a student's grade-point average.

The Washington Roundtable

The business group wants lawmakers to keep the WASL as the key graduation requirement and allow students to take an alternative assessment only if they fail the test twice.

The Washington Parent Teacher Association

The group wants the state to delay using the WASL as a graduation requirement. If it's used in the future, the group says it should be combined with other types of assessments.

The issue is coming to a head now because this year's 10th-grade class is the first required by state law to pass the test to graduate by 2008.

Not surprisingly, the WASL "has become the biggest issue we talk about," said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane.

A high-stakes test

The Legislature, as part of a national movement to raise academic standards, passed a law in 1993 that created the WASL and stated that it eventually would become a graduation requirement. The test, given each spring, was phased in over several years for different grades.

Students in 10th grade first took the test in 1999. In 2004, the Legislature passed a law requiring students to pass the reading, writing and math portions of the 10th-grade test to graduate in 2008.

Many people are troubled by the large numbers of students who fail to pass the entire test.

Last year, about 58 percent of all 10th-graders did not pass one or more of the WASL sections. For certain minority students, the figures were much higher. About 82 percent of black students, 80 percent of Hispanic students and 78 percent of American Indian students did not pass one or more parts of the test.

Those numbers are expected to improve this year when students realize they have to pass the test to graduate and can't blow it off.

In addition, state law allows students to retake the parts of the test they didn't pass up to four times before graduation. Based on experiences in other parts of the country, the state estimates that about 80 percent of all students will eventually pass the test or an alternative by 2008.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is working on an alternative way for students to prove they meet state standards if they repeatedly fail the WASL.

It is expected to let students put together a portfolio of material to prove they have the required skills. The Legislature would have to approve any alternative.

And the governor's office is proposing spending millions of dollars for a summer-school program to help students work on the skills they need to pass the test.

Even so, the Washington Parent Teacher Association wants the state to delay using the WASL as a graduation requirement. And if it's used in the future, the group says it should be combined with other types of assessments.

"We have the philosophy that no one test should be used in determining student outcome," said Mary Kenfield, a lobbyist for the Washington PTA. She argues that the WASL puts too much pressure on students.

The WEA, the teachers union, wants lawmakers to remove the WASL as the main graduation requirement.

Charles Hasse, president of the WEA, argues keeping it as a requirement could lead to an increase in dropout rates and a decline in academic achievement. The state said more than 20 percent of the class of 2004 dropped out before graduating.

"It's poor education practice to make any test a high-stakes test," Hasse said. "We've been working to lower the stakes."

He contends a student's grade-point average should count more than the WASL in deciding if he or she should graduate.

Hasse, without going into details, said his group will make the WASL an issue in this year's election if lawmakers don't side with the teachers union.

"It's morally and politically untenable to have 30 to 40 percent of high-school students not graduating," he said.

Morals and politics

Both sides cast the WASL debate as one over morals.

"Letting kids out of our schools who don't know how to read and write, it's always been morally indefensible and now it's economically indefensible as well," said Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable, a business group that includes high-profile companies such as Boeing and Microsoft.

The group argues that students need the skills the WASL measures to succeed in today's economy.

The Roundtable wants lawmakers to keep the WASL as a graduation requirement and allow students to take an alternative assessment only if they fail the test twice.

Grade-point averages are not as reliable as the state test in determining if students have the skills they need, he said.

Mullin said this issue is his group's top priority for the session. "I think the implications of that are pretty clear," Mullin said, adding that "a lot of our members have made contributions to folks specifically based on transportation positions, which is another central priority for us."

The Association of Washington Business also advocates keeping the test as a graduation requirement and will track how legislators vote on the issue, said Don Brunell, the group's president.

If legislators vote to drop the test as a graduation requirement, "I would suspect that a lot of our people would look at that as a pretty strong negative," Brunell said.

For lawmakers, there's no clear choice politically.

"There are political implications, both good and bad, no matter what you do," said Christian Sinderman, a Democratic consultant. "That's why it's hard to quantify the political fallout of it, because there's no answer. There's no clear path."

Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson is urging lawmakers to not "blink" when it comes to keeping the WASL as a graduation requirement.

She said the WEA is opposed to keeping the test requirement in part because "there's a group of members who've been able to go along without any accountability and they're at the end of their careers and they just don't want to change."

There are other teachers who support keeping the WASL requirement, she said, adding that the system will work if the state gives it a chance.

"If the legislators buckle this winter, then we'll never know."

Andrew Garber: 360-943-9882 or agarber@seattletimes.com