The WASL Graduation Requirement:
Legislative Briefing
November 2005
A BRIEF HISTORY
The legislative mandate for academic standards
In 1993, the legislature passed a sweeping education reform measure that led to
the establishment of rigorous academic standards and tests that measure whether
students meet them.
This reform was the result of concern that high school diplomas were meaningless
because they were awarded for “seat time” – that is, for merely attending 12
years of school – rather than for learning. Many students left high school
without the basic literacy skills necessary to fill out a job application, much
less succeed in college, job training, or the workplace.
The economic mandate for higher achievement
There was a widespread sense of urgency about school reform because economic and
technological changes meant that young people would need higher levels of skill
and knowledge to succeed in the workplace and to be well-informed citizens.
How standards and tests were developed
Over several years following the passage of Washington’s school reform law,
committees of Washington teachers, parents and businesspeople met to define what
students should know and be able to do in reading, writing, math, science,
social studies, health and fitness and the arts. They defined essential academic
learning requirements (EALRS) in each of these subjects. Later, similar
committees developed more specific grade level expectations that spell out what
students should learn year by year. These are the specific skills and knowledge
that fed into the development of our state’s unique Washington Assessment of
Student Learning (WASL), which students take in the fourth, seventh, and tenth
grades.
How the WASL differs from other tests
Only 50 percent of the WASL is composed of multiple choice, fill-in-the-bubble
questions. Thirty five percent of the questions require students to write brief
answers that demonstrate their understanding or explain how they solved a
problem. Fifteen percent of the test requires extended responses and essays. The
test is not designed to measure how much students have memorized; it is designed
to measure thinking and analytical skill, and the ability to communicate
clearly.
CURRENT LAW
Graduation requirements
Beginning with the graduating class of 2008 (this year’s high school
sophomores), students will be required to pass the 10th grade WASL in reading,
writing, and math. Beginning in 2010, they will also be required to pass the
10th grade science WASL.
Students will also be required to complete a minimum of 19 course credits, to
create a “culminating project” which they present in their senior year, and to
outline a plan for what they will do in the year after they graduate. (These are
the state graduation requirements; local districts can and often do add
additional requirements.)
Although passing the WASL isn’t a graduation requirement for the 2006 and 2007
graduating classes, WASL scores for these students will be posted on their high
school transcripts.
Graduation requirements for certain English language learners and special
education students
Some students in special education programs are not required to take the WASL.
Others take the WASL with special accommodations.
English language learners are not required to take the WASL if they have been
here for one year or less. (However, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law
requires them to take the math test.) NCLB requires these students to take the
WASL in their second year, but the state has asked that this be changed to the
third year, or when they meet a certain level of proficiency in English.
Retakes, alternative assessments, and appeals
Students who don’t pass the reading, writing, and math sections of the WASL the
first time they take it are allowed up to four retakes. Students only have to
retake the sections they didn’t pass.
OSPI is also working on developing alternative assessments – that is, different
ways for students to show that they have mastered the skills and knowledge
represented by the WASL. The 2006 legislature will review OSPI’s proposed
alternatives, and has the power to approve (or not approve) them. OSPI was also
directed to design an appeals process. The nature of the appeals process will
depend on which alternative assessments are chosen.
Possible alternative assessments might include
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some combination of WASL scores and grades,
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specific scores in other tests used for placement in community or college
classes,
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a collection of evidence that shows the student met standards,
earning certain industry skill certificates in career and technical education
classes. |
Extra help for students who need it
In 2004, the legislature directed schools to create individual Student Learning
Plans that spell out how students who don’t pass the 7th grade WASL will be
helped to meet standards by 10th grade.
There is wide variation among school districts in the quality of Student
Learning Plans, and in the availability of summer school, tutoring programs, and
other forms of extra help.
In 2005, the legislature took several further actions to help students get the
help they need to pass the WASL:
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Funding for summer school and other remedial help – The 2005 legislature
appropriated an additional $25 million for the Learning Assistance Program, and,
for the first time, required schools to use these funds for extra help for high
school students. A step-up in funding required by Initiative 728 will also help
schools marshal the resources for tutoring and other special help for students.
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Study to determine how to meet needs of English language learners – Students who
come to this country when they are already in high school often can’t pass the
WASL by the end of their senior year because they don’t yet have the language
skills they need. A study will examine how to create a pathway for these
students to finish their high school education while honing their English skills
in a community college setting.
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Quicker WASL results – In the past, students took the test in the spring but
didn’t get their scores back until fall. Starting this school year, results will
be back by June 10, so students will know if they need to attend summer school. |
HOW WASHINGTON COMPARES WITH OTHER STATES
Achieve, a national organization of governors and business leaders, recently
completed a study that compares Washington’s graduation requirements with six
other states (Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas) that
have high school exit exams. It found the WASL less rigorous in reading, but
more rigorous than other states in writing, because it requires that students
write a brief essay. In math, the study concluded that most of what is tested is
pre-algebra and basic algebra – roughly comparable in rigor to the other states,
but at a level that would be equivalent to the 8th grade in other countries.
(There is also geometry in the WASL, but students who do well on other parts of
the math test can pass even if they miss all of the geometry questions.)
The study also finds the WASL exemplary in its balance between multiple choice
and constructed answers that require students to think, analyze and write.
The study maintains that the WASL – and tests in other states – represent a
level of education that students should achieve in 8th or 9th grade, and calls
for phasing in higher passing scores and more rigorous tests over time. It
concludes that “In Washington and the other six states, we found that the tests
do indeed set a ‘floor’ for students that states can responsibly defend as a
graduation requirement, but do not effectively measure the higher-level skills
that truly constitute ‘readiness’ for college and the world of work.”
IS EDUCATION REFORM WORKING?
Clear academic standards – and good data about whether students meet them – have
been powerful tools for school improvement. There is broad consensus among
educators that students are learning more, and that the quality of our education
system is improving.
Today, the spur of the 2008 graduation requirement is stimulating high schools,
which have been the last to be engaged in the school improvement process, to
improve faster. Many high schools are just now beginning to provide substantial
remedial programs to help students who are not on track to graduate.
As one might expect, recent improvements are not consistent from one school
district or school to another. Nor are the improvements in learning consistent
among different groups of students. Many recent immigrants, special education
students, students of color, and students from low-income families continue to
struggle.
While the “achievement gap” between white students and students of color is
narrowing in elementary reading across the state, the gap persists in middle and
high school. Some districts have been more successful than others in narrowing
the gap.
One of the strengths of standards-based reform is that the achievement gap is
being measured. Educators, parents and the public have access to the data, and
this data can be used to identify what strategies are effective in closing the
gap.
WHO WILL GRADUATE – AND WHO WON’T?
The Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction projects that if we hold
with the current requirement that all students must pass the 10th grade WASL (or
an alternative assessment of equal rigor) in reading, writing and math, 81
percent of the class of 2008 will do so. Eighty-six percent of white students
will graduate.
However, students of color and students from low-income families will not fare
as well:
- Fifty-six percent of African-American students will graduate;
- Fifty-eight percent of Hispanic/Latino students will graduate;
- Sixty-two percent of American Indian students will graduate;
- Eighty-nine percent of Asian-American students will graduate. However, the data
for Asians includes a wide array of nationalities and subgroups. Some are new
immigrants; some are third generation Americans. Significant sub-groups of Asian
and Pacific Americans would graduate at much lower rates.
OSPI has not made a specific projection to show what percentage of low-income
students, regardless of race, will graduate.
It should be noted that these percentages do not include students who dropped
out of school. (Currently 66% of Washington students graduate from high school
after four years.)
These projections are based on the assumption that test scores will rise
substantially in the next three years because:
- students will know they must pass the tests to graduate;
- they will have four opportunities for retakes;
- they will receive remedial help; and
- there will be alternative assessments.
Some people believe that these projections may be too optimistic.
WHAT ABOUT STUDENTS WHO DROP OUT?
It is not clear whether requiring that students pass a test to graduate
increases dropout rates; studies on this issue are inconsistent. However, it
seems intuitively likely that when students aren’t doing well anyway, the extra
discouragement of failing a high-stakes test might be a factor in their decision
to give up on school.
And regardless of whether such tests worsen the dropout rate, the dropout rate
is already an educational emergency.
POLICY OPTIONS
There are two policy goals:
- All students learn the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in college,
job training, and the workplace;
- All students stay in school and earn high school diplomas.
These two goals require a two-track policy approach:
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Greater effort to ensure that all students get the help they need to meet
Washington’s modest graduation standards. This will require special emphasis on
measures to close the achievement gap between white students and students of
color and low-income students.
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Realistic adjustments to the graduation requirements.
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To achieve the goal of getting more students to graduation, there are many
options that can be combined in various ways.
New opportunities for learning
- Provide any student who has not completed graduation requirements by the end
of their senior year with a pathway to community college for high school
completion. Basic education dollars could follow students to finance this
option. Students could participate in high school graduation ceremonies at the
close of their senior year, but instead of being handed a diploma, they would
receive an education plan for how they will earn a diploma. When Washington’s
school reform law was passed, one of the driving ideas was that different
students learn in different ways and at different rates. But today, we still
expect all students to meet graduation standards after four years. This is a
major driver of our high dropout rate. If students knew from the beginning that
if they kept trying, they could participate in graduation ceremonies and pursue
their diploma in a community college, it would remove the humiliation factor
that drives many students to leave school too soon.
- Make attendance at summer school (and/or after school remedial programs)
compulsory for students who do not pass the WASL in their sophomore year.
- Design a package of policy initiatives to close the achievement gap.
Adjustments in the WASL graduation requirement
- Use “multiple measures” to determine readiness for high school graduation. In
addition to WASL scores, readiness for graduation could be measured by
alternative assessments, including various possible combinations of test scores,
course completion, grades, development of specified job skills, etc.
- Amend the graduation requirement for a specific period of time – for
instance, require that students pass two out of three WASLs or alternative
assessments, or one out of three. This change could be time-limited so that the
standard returns to three out of three after a specified number of years, or
when the achievement gap between students of color and white students has been
closed.
- Lower the standards – for instance, require that students score at the
“basic” level on one or more WASL or alternative assessments rather than the
“proficient” level.
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