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closeAt first glance it seems defeatist for the state to say it’s scrapping the mathematics portion of the WASL by 2014, just because not enough kids are passing that part of the test required for a high school diploma.
Only last September, officials were talking about making the math part of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning more difficult, even though the failure rate remained high, and little has changed in the past six months. Something just doesn’t add up.
To the average parent, the whole debate about the WASL’s math requirement seems a convoluted mess.
Here’s what happened: On Wednesday, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill that will end the WASL’s math requirement by 2014. So instead of the math WASL, high school students will face comprehensive tests in course work from Algebra I and Geometry I, classes that freshmen and sophomores frequently take.
Gregoire vetoed a similar bill last year, because she thought there were too many unanswered questions. Since then, however, a state Board of Education study has found that end-of-course exams in other states show that both the math WASL and end-of-course exams can do a good job of assessing students’ math skills.
Also last year, requiring the math portion of the WASL for graduation was delayed until 2013, partly because only about half the students in the class of 2008 had passed the math section.
In 2013, students must pass either the math WASL or two end-of-course exams. And in 2014, the math WASL is scheduled to end all together. Math will remain part of the WASL testing for third- through eighth-graders, however.
Advocates say that testing immediately after completion of a course will boost the success rate. That seems logical.
But wouldn’t you want students to have learned algebra and geometry — or any other subject — well enough that they would be able to pass a test in those subjects a year or two down the road? Isn’t that what learning is all about?
Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said she is willing to see how the WASL math alternative works. “It’s a common-sense approach ... so let’s give it a shot,” she said. Reluctantly, so are we.
But in the meantime, state educators must work on a math curriculum that guarantees that Washington students can compete in an ever-complex world. This nation used to have the best and brightest young minds in math and science, and we must renew our commitment to excellence in that regard.
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