Ladies and Gentleman, the Washington Class of 2008
Posted on 02 Jun |
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Just like the tagline of a cinema epic, the road forged by the class of 2008 has been a groundbreaking one, more than a decade in the making. In the next few weeks, students will graduate as the first class to be better prepared for life after high school, demonstrating their ability to succeed on the reading and writing WASL, complete a culminating project and implement a "high school and beyond" plan.
No one doubts the that process of implementing these new graduation requirements has been difficult, but to the credit of principals, teachers, students and parents, out of 67,000 12th graders currently enrolled in Washington schools an impressive 91.4 percent of students have met state standards in both the reading and writing and are on track to graduate later this month.
“This is a celebration of over a decade of work. These are our first graduates to have more scrutiny placed on them than almost anyone in the state and they’ve risen to the challenge,” said Terry Bergeson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “But the big picture is that our schools are now delivering more personalized attention than ever to keep students engaged in school and help them achieve high standards.”
It’s important to note that, to date, there are 3,000 students who have yet to take the test. When these students are subtracted from the total population, the number of students who have met standard goes up to a remarkable 95 percent.
A More Meaningful
Diploma
The delivery of these results has proven both inspiring and cathartic for students and teachers. Many students took the reading and writing Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) several times to reach state standards, others demonstrated their capabilities through the submission of portfolios, still others used SAT and AP scores to prove their skills. But later this month, they will all receive a diploma that’s more meaningful than any in our state’s history.
Rose Worgum, an academic counselor at Curtis High School, has seen firsthand how the state’s new diploma requirements have helped to better prepare students for the world of college and work.
“One thing that stands out as significant to me is a student
that I worked with who transferred here from the Ukraine in her sophomore year,
just a few months before the WASL was administered,” said Worgum. “She spoke no
English and ended up taking the WASL that year and did not pass. She worked very hard in her classes and with
her English language and in her junior year when she took the WASL, she passed
with Level 4's (advanced) in reading and writing and also passed math with a
Level 3 (proficient).”
The
state’s other new graduation requirements including the completion of the
culminating project have also posed challenges for students, but significant
benefits, as well, as they plan their next step in life.
“When students are invited to stretch their
learning in a meaningful and manageable way, they rise to the occasion,” said
Molly Berger, an English teacher in the Yakima School District who supported
many of her students through the new culminating project requirement.
The Credit Deficiency
Culprit
The students who have not yet passed the reading and/or writing WASL still have a chance to meet state standards through either registering to submit a “collection of evidence” portfolio by June 16 or retaking the WASL in mid-August. The decision to allow these students to participate in graduation ceremonies has been left up to individual districts.
In most cases, however, failure to pass the required reading and writing WASL will not be the decisive factor that holds some students back from graduation. According to a 2007 Washington State University study of more than 10,000 students in 13 districts, lack of sufficient course credits will hold far more students back than failure to meet state graduation standards (see chart below).
“The problem of credit deficiency is ultimately a larger challenge for our students than assessment,” said Brian Jeffries, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) graduation policy director. “Thankfully, programs like ‘Navigation 101’ that help students plan for college and careers and tie their courses to their future goals will reduce credit deficiency as a barrier to graduation.”
Strengthening the
Graduation Rate
OSPI will not know the total graduation rate for the class of 2008 until early September, after the August WASL retake. But contrary to the fears of some, there is no indication that the dropout rate will increase this year as a result of the new requirements.
“It is unacceptable to assume the WASL will either increase or decrease our state’s dropout rates,” said Larry Ehl, executive director of Partnership for Learning. “While the WASL itself is not a means to fix our dropout rate, it measures whether a student is ready to take that next step in life. We must continue to explore ways to keep students engaged, motivated and supported while also holding them to the high standards needed for college and work success.”
Supt. Bergeson has often noted that, in other states, the implementation of testing requirements have little impact on graduation rates over time. They have, however, been shown to decrease the number of remedial classes students must take when the exit high school and enter post-secondary institutions, which often strengthens the student incentive to finish well.
Looking Ahead
In many ways, the success of the class of 2008 is just the beginning. The classes of 2009-12 will be subject to the same requirements, but will also be expected to build on this year’s achievement as the process for helping students meet standards and finish requirements becomes more clarified and streamlined. Starting in 2013 and 2014, students will be required to pass the high school math WASL or an end-of-course exam to graduate (currently, students who don’t pass math WASL can earn two math credits after 10th grade to meet standard).
But Supt. Bergeson doesn’t want to short-change this year’s accomplishment.
“To the students, I must say: Congratulations. You’ve met the challenge and you’ve prepared for your future. You will be going into the 21st century with the skills to build our future and make our country and economy what we truly want it to be.”
This diagram, created by OSPI, shows the progress of the class of 2008 starting in 9th grade.
To learn more about the requirements for the Class of 2008 and the upcoming requirements for the Classes of 2009-2013, visit OSPI’s resource page.
To find out about the alternative methods for students to meet state standards and graduation requirements, visit OSPI’s Certificate of Achievement page.
Key Upcoming Dates
June 3 -- Public release of 12th grade WASL results June 6 -- School districts receive individual student WASL score reports from Pearson Educational Measurement, the state’s testing contractor. School districts receive combined score report for assessment for segmented mathematics June 9-13 -- Individual student results for grades 10, 11 and 12 available for districts to share with students and their families. June 16 -- Deadline to submit Collection of Evidence and Report to Families: OSPI’s announcement of state-level High School WASL results and progress with graduation requirement in reading, writing and math June 9-27 -- Registration window for August High School WASL June 16-20 -- Third batch of Certificate of Academic Achievement/Certificate of Individual Achievement certificates delivered
August 11-14 -- August High School WASL
(Counts for 2007-08 school year) By September 10 -- OSPI releases statewide Spring 2008 WASL performance in all subjects and all grades.
Washington Math Teachers Gear Up for New Standards
With Washington’s new K-8 math standards in place, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is undertaking a series of massive training sessions for more than 10,000 math teachers statewide.
The training sessions will take place in Spokane in late June and in Tacoma in late July and early August. Some Educational Service Districts (ESDs) and school districts are scheduling their own sessions, as well. The state will pay for related materials including copies of the 2008 Washington State K-8 Mathematics Standards for all participants.
“The mathematics standards training is not required,” said Lexie Domaradzki, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning at OSPI. “However, starting in the spring of 2010, math tests at all grade levels will assess whether students have learned the mathematics content contained in the new standards.”
Professional development for mathematics standards in grades 9-12 will be scheduled later this year, following the adoption of the revised standards for those grades.
For more information on — and to register for — OSPI and ESD-sponsored trainings visit https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us/EventsManager/Public/Calendar.aspx (Events Manager search terms: Revised Mathematics Standards, Math, K-8).
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