- WASL Results Show Gains and Plateaus
- WASL Results by Subject Area
- More Wash. Schools Miss AYP Targets
- Changes to State Assessment Set for Next Year
WASL Results Show Gains and Plateaus
As predicted by state officials, results were mixed from the spring 2009 administration of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Scores in grades 3-8 and 10 mirrored 2008 results, increasing in seven subject areas, decreasing in seven and remaining unchanged in six.
In spring 2009, more than 500,000 Washington students in grades 3-8 and 10 took the WASL. Those scores are used to measure progress on AYP (adequate yearly progress), the accountability arm of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Although results were mixed in the seven grades tested, it is worth noting that significant gains have been made in writing during the past 10 years, when 10th graders were first tested in the subject: When the state first tested writing in 1999, just 41 percent of all 10th graders passed. This year, 86 percent of all 10th graders passed.
Some of the statewide results over the seven tested grades were encouraging as sixth-grade reading scores increased by 3.4 percent and eighth-grade science scores increased by 3.2 percent. At the same time, seventh-grade reading scores decreased by 3.5 percent and 10th grade math scores decreased by 4.1 percent.
For the class of 2010, 86.5 percent of incoming 12th graders (those who have remained in school and are on track to graduate) have passed the reading and writing exams. Nearly 60 percent of the class passed the math WASL. However, those students who do not pass a state math assessment can meet the graduation requirement by earning two credits of math after 10th grade. The state does not track credits earned.
Nearly 75 percent of incoming 11th graders have met the reading and writing standards.
The assessment figures for those two classes are comparable to the classes of 2008 and 2009, the first two required to meet the reading and writing assessment graduation requirements.
WASL Results by Subject Area
To view more WASL results, please visit the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's (OSPI) report card website.
More Wash. Schools Miss AYP Targets
In 2009, 1,285 schools did not make AYP (adequate yearly progress). Of that total, 1,073 are in one of five steps of improvement. For districts, 209 did not make AYP and 103 are in one of two steps of improvement. Of the 505 schools in Step 1 of improvement this year, 274 missed AYP in math and 243 missed in only one category.
By contrast, 1,268 schools (and 209 districts) did not make AYP and 618 schools (and 57 districts) were in improvement in 2008.
The term AYP comes from the federal requirement that all schools and districts will have a specific – and growing – percentage of students passing the state’s reading and math tests each year. All states are required to have a goal that all students in all schools pass the reading and math tests by 2014. Schools and districts that do not meet AYP goals for two consecutive years move into “improvement” status and, if they receive federal Title I funds, face an escalating series of consequences each year they do not make AYP.
To learn more about AYP visit OSPI's Elementary and Secondary Education Act website.
Changes to State Assessment Set for Next Year
The 2008-09 school year was the last for the WASL—but not for statewide assessment. Beginning this school year, the WASL will be replaced by two new tests: the grades 3-8 Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).
Despite the change in tests, the graduation requirements associated with high school state testing remain the same. Also, schools can volunteer to participate in online testing next spring in grades 6-8 in reading and math.
Next spring, about 25 percent of students statewide in grades 6-8 are expected to participate in voluntary online testing. In spring 2011, fifth graders will participate in online testing in reading, math and science. Eighth graders will also begin to test in science that year. By spring 2012, fourth graders will move to online testing in reading and math.
To learn more about changes to assessment in Washington, visit OSPI’s Assessment website.
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