Nearly half of Class of '08 still lacking on the WASL

The state's crisis in math education showed little sign of easing after results from the first retakes of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning were announced Wednesday.

A little more than one-quarter of the 11,673 high-school students who retook the math portion of the WASL in August earned a passing score. That leaves about 29,000 students — 42 percent — in the Class of 2008 without a key portion of their graduation requirements.

The results were more promising in reading and math, with the overall pass rate across the state now approaching 90 percent.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said the students not meeting standards are disproportionately minority and low-income. About 64 percent of Asian-American students and 60 percent of whites have met all three standards needed for graduation compared with 29 percent of African-American students, 30 percent of Hispanics and 36 percent of American Indians.

"We're in a crisis mode for minority students," Bergeson said.

But she added that leaders in those communities don't want to abandon the WASL as a graduation requirement.

"They're not saying, 'Drop the standards.' They're saying, 'Teach our kids these skills,' " Bergeson said.

A relatively small number of students in the Class of 2008 signed up for the August retakes. An even smaller number took advantage of state-funded support classes and tutoring over the summer. And 14,400 members of the Class of 2008 have yet to be tested in all three areas.

Still, Bergeson said she remained optimistic that students who enroll in an additional year of math, or who receive tutoring or online instruction, can raise their achievement. She cited the experience of the Federal Way School District, where twice as many students who received targeted support over the summer met standards on their WASL retake as those who received no help.

The 2006 state Legislature approved $28.5 million for school districts to help struggling students meet the state's new graduation requirements. The Class of 2008, this year's juniors, is the first that must pass the math, reading and writing portions of the test to earn a diploma. Those students took the test for the first time in the spring, as 10th-graders.

The state will pay for up to five retakes — the next is in the spring of 2007. If students fail a section of the test twice, they are eligible for alternative assessments. Those assessments haven't been determined yet, but students must demonstrate skills equal to those required on the written test.

A battle is already shaping up in the Legislature over what to do for students who aren't meeting standards in math. The state PTA and an organization of school-board members have called for a three-year delay in implementing the math graduation requirement.

Some legislators say they'd like to see a two-year transition period in which students could satisfy graduation requirements by taking another year of high-school math or by demonstrating continued improvement.

Bergeson reiterated Wednesday that she doesn't want to drop the math requirement and leave thousands of students without the skills necessary for college or family-wage jobs. But she said she also doesn't want kids punished by a system that hasn't adequately prepared them.

She said she will ask the state for more funding to refocus math curriculum, give teachers more training and add math coaches to middle and high schools.

She said the state also needs to provide incentives, including college scholarships, low-interest loans and wage premiums, to attract more math teachers.

Lynn Thompson: 425-745-7807 or lthompson@seattletimes.com