Johnson - take norm referenced test instead of WASL to graduate

[arthurhu@comcast.net]

I'm all for this one. Pass all other requirements, and you get 
a diploma with a percentile score, no matter how low, on your
records.

Should we put together a petition and tell Johnson to stick to
his guns?


c:\cd\clip\2004\02\legfail.txt

Thursday, February 26, 2004, 12:00 A.M. Pacific

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Editorial Legislators are failing the WASL


State Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Kent, should stop messing around with a
well-crafted House bill that clarifies state high-school-graduation
requirements, and work instead to pass it without major changes.

There's no time to waste. Next year's freshman class will be the first
required to pass the 10th-grade state assessment test in order to earn
a diploma. Students and teachers deserve straightforward, reasonable
expectations.

House Bill 2195 codifies implementation of the 10th-grade Washington
Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test and allows students who
fail it to retake it ? several times if necessary. The bill passed the
House with broad, bipartisan support and endorsement from the
education and business communities.

It should be sailing through the Senate on its way to becoming law.
Instead, Johnson, who chairs the Education Committee, has proposed
changes to key parts of the bill that threaten to derail the effort.

Johnson would limit students to two retakes of the WASL. Those who
fail both times could take what's known as a norm-referenced
standardized achievement test. Both changes would undermine the intent
of the state's ongoing standards-based education reform.

Developing alternative assessments is necessary; it's included in the
House bill. But using a completely different kind of test based on
different standards ignores the point of the reform ? to make sure
students learn what the state has determined they should know.

Limiting retakes to two is also wrong ? and potentially illegal. What
incentive would there be for a student who failed the WASL after two
retakes to continue with school?

Slightly more than one-third of the state's 10th-graders passed the
reading, writing and math portions of the WASL last year. It would be
disastrous if the passage rate remained that low once the test counts
for graduation.

Johnson questions the reliability and validity of the WASL. This is
not the time for that. The legislative session is ticking toward its
final days and, once again, lawmakers appear to have little to show in
the way of solid education reform.

Voters aren't going to stand for it much longer.