Deadline Nears for Special Circumstances Appeals

High school principals, heads up!

The deadline for filing special circumstance appeals for high school students who missed the math WASL is looming on the horizon. To be considered for the appeal, applications must be received by OSPI by Thursday, May 1. Supporting documentation can be filed after the deadline, but must be received by May 12.

You can download the appeals application here. Or go here to learn more about the special circumstances process.

According to OSPI:

"The appeal was created for students in their senior year who, because of 'special, unavoidable circumstances,' were unable to demonstrate their skills and knowledge on the high school WASL or another appropriate assessment. For example, OSPI has been alerted about numerous cases where students missed one or both days of the WASL because they were ill. Although that doesn’t guarantee an appeal will be approved, that special, unavoidable circumstance certainly qualifies as an appeal. In order for an appeal to be granted, documentation demonstrating that the student has the skills to meet standard must be provided.

Math Hokey Pokey

You put the math WASL in, you take the math WASL out...

This week, Gov. Gregoire approved a plan that would phase out use of the math WASL and eliminate it as a graduation requirement. But don't let your students think they're off the hook entirely. Here's how things will work:

• The changes announced this week will NOT apply to this year's seniors.
  
• Students in grades 3-8 will still sit for the WASL in mathematics, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
• The graduating class of 2013 (this year's seventh-graders) will have the option of taking an passing either the math WASL or individual end-of-course (EOC - yes, a new acronym) exams. In 2014, the math WASL will be no more and only end-of-course exams in subjects like algebra and geometry will be used.
• $3.2 million was allocated this session for development of the EOCs.
  
• High school students will still be required to take and pass the reading and writing WASLs, in addition to completing a high school and beyond plan, culminating project and any credits required by the district to graduate.
  

This week's bill signing marks yet another change schools must communicate about graduation and testing requirements to teachers, students, families and the community.

What do you think about the decision? Will end-of-course exams work better than the WASL for assessing students skills in areas like algebra and geometry? Do you think we will see different test results?

How are you sharing the changes with your key audiences at school?

Threat Down: Credits vs. WASL

It's WASL testing week for Washington state's high school sophomores and any juniors or seniors (especially seniors) that want to retake or need to take the reading and writing tests to graduate. With this year's seniors bearing the title of the first to graduate under the state's new graduation requirements, there's a lot of focus on passing the WASL. But what about passing P.E.? Or Spanish?

That's the focus of today's article in The Seattle Times, which looks at several districts north of Seattle where credit deficiencies threaten graduation plans -- not the WASL. In Marysville, the district reports there are about 10 times as many students that are not on track to graduate due to credits rather than WASL scores.

"It's not these other factors that are impeding students from graduating — it's the low credits," [Ray Houser, Marysville executive director of teaching and learning] said.

"We realize that it's not necessarily the assessment or the state requirements, but the inability to successfully navigate the classes," he said.

High school principals: Is this something you're seeing in your own schools?

Is WASL the Real Graduation Hang Up?

That's the question Everett Herald reporter Eric Stevick tackled in today's paper, and the answer may surprise some.

Apparently the real hang up when it comes to the class of 2008 is not passing the WASL, but rather, getting enough seat time. Credits are the single biggest threat to graduation in the districts within his readership (like Granite Falls, Everett Public Schools and the Edmonds School District). Take the seniors at Everett's Cascade High for example. According to Stevick:

As of Friday, the Everett school had 386 students in its class of 2008, but 63 were behind on credits they need in order to graduate on time.

Of the 323 students on track to earn enough credits to graduate, seven have not passed the WASL's reading mark, five have not passed writing and 15 have not passed both reading and writing portions of the 10th-grade WASL. Of the 27 students with WASL problems, about 40 percent have either not taken the tests or not had their WASL scores recorded.

Of 63 Cascade students behind on credits, seven haven't passed the reading test, nine haven't passed the writing and 11 have not passed either exams.

Are credits a bigger barrier to graduation for students in your high school than the WASL?

WASL: Drinking from the Fire Hose

Today's WASL score release by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction further underscores the incredible amount of testing data available. "Like drinking from a fire hose," quipped KING 5's Glenn Farley, reporting at noon on today's announcement. His analogy is not far from the truth.

In the wake of NCLB, the good news is, you have more data. The bad news is...you have more data.

So what do you do with it all? That's the question newsrooms around the state are grappling with right now. How do you tell a numbers story when you (1) can't see the test or (2) the test results and (3) school, in some areas, has not started? This is perhaps where principals can be a good resource for their local media -- and share some good news about what's working in schools. Conversely, this is also a time when some principals will also have to be honest about what isn't working. Still, it's another opportunity to get your message across -- even just to your staff, students and families, about your instructional priorities for the year.

How have you communicated the results of WASL scores in your school? What do you do with your staff to distill all of the WASL information? How are you using it to improve classroom instruction?

Where Credit is Due

Last Friday's "Report to Families" by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction suggests that students in the class of 2008 are rising to the challenge of the WASL as a graduation requirement. According to OSPI, 86.8 percent of the class has passed the test in reading and about the same (86.7 percent) did so on the writing exam -- both great numbers to cheer about. Math continues to be the subject of greatest concern, as just 74.3 of next year's graduating seniors have passed the test. The math requirement has been postponed until 2013, during which time the state will be working to review the standards, among other things.

The good news is more resources are being allocated to help those students still needing to get over the bar. The Legislature has allocated $12 million for Promoting Academic Success (PAS), which high schools and districts can use to target those students in need of additional reading, writing or math help.

Is the bar still too high for Washington's high school students? To see what the papers are saying about student progress, you can read this, this, this and this. Oh, and check out this and that, too.

WASL Data

According to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), our state's education department, just 85 test score appeals have been filed so far this year. (That's out of 240,000 tests, BTW.) The numbers were released earlier this week as part of an informational event for Washington state media. Of those filed:

• 66 were in math; 12 were granted
• 9 were in reading; 1 was granted
• 10 were in writing; none (0) were granted

There are also about 2,000 students who have applied to submit a collection of evidence, according to Molly O'Connor, the state's assessment communications manager. The collection of evidence is one of the multiple alternatives to the WASL, a means by which high schoolers can demonstrate mastery in the content areas without re-taking the test. Another 85 students have filed their scores on the ACT, PSAT, SAT or ACT as proof of their abilities; 82 filed to use their PSAT scores, one filed to use SAT scores, and two filed to use ACT scores.

FYI, State Superintendent Terry Bergeson will present her "Report to Families" teleconference to the media on Friday, June 8, at which time she will announce the number of sophomores and juniors who passed the WASL in reading, writing and math this year.

The Route to a Diploma

OSPI just posted an updated flyer on the WASL and high school graduation that reflects the changes put in place by the Legislature this past session. The state is also working on a comprehensive FAQ document that incorporates questions from the field about alternative routes to the Certificate, course credits, etc. The Tacoma News Tribune covered some of these questions in a recent article, as well.

Veto Update

On Tuesday, Gov. Gregoire wielded her veto pen over what became known as "the WASL bill" this past legislative session. ESSB 6023 delays until 2013 a requirement that high school students pass the math and science WASL exams in order to graduate. The four sections she eliminated would have established end-of-course exams (section 9), regional appeals at the ESD level (section 10), a special exemption for ELL students (section 11) and an emergency clause (section 13) requiring an immediate effect. In her weekly newsletter to state employees this week, she noted:

“We must improve math and science teaching and learning, but we cannot penalize students when the system has failed them,” said Gov. Gregoire. “This bill extends to 2013 the deadline for students to meet the state math and science standards through the WASL or an approved alternative for high school graduation.”

You may recall reading here last week that AWSP sent a letter to Gov. Gregoire urging her veto of sections 2, 6 and 10. While the Association agreed with the vetoes that were enacted, we believe several of the the issues in section 2 (including the ability for students to access alternative assessments like the SAT, ACT and AP tests after just one attempt at the WASL) run counter to the state's education reform efforts. We also anticipate these issues will resurface in the 2008 legislative session. In the meantime...

High school administrators: How are you explaining the impact of this legislation to your students and their parents? How about staff?

Beating the Odds

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) concluded in its recent report that very few schools "beat the odds" on the 10th-grade WASL last spring, but several performed "below expectations. Last year, the Legislature tasked WSIPP with conducting several WASL-related studies. This latest report reflects their efforts to identify schools that "beat the odds," meaning schools whose students did better on the WASL than expected, given their demographics. Only 8 out of 309 schools included in the analysis beat the odds in reading and writing; 13 out of 303 schools did it in math.

So what does this all mean? Well, since the actual and predicted met standard rates were higher for schools in reading and writing, it seems to confirm what we already know: there is a problem with math. But the main finding, as researchers noted, was the disappointing realization that very few schools beat the odds given their students' demographics.

AWSP Requests Section Veto of WASL Bill

Last week, AWSP Executive Director Gary Kipp sent a letter to Gov. Gregoire asking her to veto three sections of ESSB 6023, the WASL and high school graduation bill. The governor has 20 days from the time the bill was signed (excluding Sundays) to take action on the measure. That means we'll likely see something take place on or before May 15.

From AWSP's perspective, the bill now before the governor represents a substantial weakening of the diploma and the graduation requirements. The association is supportive of the proposed delay in the math and science WASL as a grad requirement, but has serious concerns about the other major elements of this bill, including:

• SECTION 2 - Would allow students to use assessments that are not aligned with state standards (e.g., ACT, SAT, AP) to demonstrate proof of skills.
  
• SECTION 6 - Restricts access to the alternatives to only those students with a 3.2 GPA or higher and directs the State Board of Education to examine the use of norm references tests as a means of alternative assessment.
  
• SECTION 10 - Allows ESDs to review student appeals based on pre-ed reform measures of success (e.g., attendance/seat time).
  

In the letter, AWSP also requested a veto of section 9 of HB 1051, granting certificates of academic completion to those students who complete all graduation requirements but for the WASL. It is not a diploma. As Kipp wrote in his letter:

"While we appreciate the Legislature's efforts to ensure all students are recognized, the certificate of academic completion is a poor substitute for the skills represented by earning a high school diploma."

The governor has indicated her concerns about the measure, so she might make some changes with her veto pen (section only; there is no line-item veto). We will be anxious to see how things play out as May 15 approaches.

Does the Hill Have [Enough] Ayes to Undo WASL?

Lawmakers have already set in motion legislation that would delay the math and science portion of the WASL. The big question to be resolved before for the last days of session run out is whether that delay should be extended to the tests in reading and writing.

That's the latest scuttle in Olympia, where lawmakers are just days away from concluding this year's legislative session. Senate Education Chair Rosemary McAuliffe (D-Bothell) told The Seattle Times she supports a delay because the students struggling with reading and writing WASLs are from low income families, have disabilities or are students of color. McAuliffe was apparently swayed by a petition signed by more than 40 of the state's 296 school district superintendents advocating for the delay.

Gov. Gregoire has continued her support of the graduation requirement in reading and writing, and reiterated it in comments to reporters last Friday, after a closed-door meeting with Sen. McAuliffe and House Education Chair Dave Quall (D-Mount Vernon). To wit:

"One week from Sine Die let's make a dramatic shift in education policy in the state of Washington? That is troubling to me."

The 105-day session is scheduled to end on Sunday, April 22, though Democrats are pushing to end things this Friday. With a budget left to resolve and a host of other major policy concerns, it will be interesting to see if The Hill has the "ayes" to undo the WASL as a graduation requirement - for 2008.

For the record, AWSP supports a delay in mathematics and science, but not for reading and writing.

Forget March Madness...

Try Math Madness instead.

From the halls of Olympia to the daily newspaper on your computer or doorstep each morning, the headlines have all focused on math; today was no different.

What should 10th-graders know and be able to do on a test that counts for graduation two years later? What's the best way to test their knowledge? Is multiple choice really better? Fairer? And what if we 're still debating this five years from now? Then what? Legislators have until April 22 -- sine die -- to figure it all out. (Truth be told: AWSP has concerns about the rush to use any kind of test, be it the WASL or an off-the-shelf, multiple choice version.)

This is one time a study might be just the ticket.

On a lighter-but-still-math-related note: A belated Happy Pi Day, which took place on March 14 (3.14, of course). This high holy math day also coincided with Albert Einstein's birthday. A match made in mathematics heaven! No word yet on whether Hallmark has a card for this occasion...

A Nation at Risk?

Here's a thought: What if "A Nation at Risk" was wrong?

That's the premise behind an article in this month's issue of Edutopia (my new favorite education magazine). Author Tamim Ansary suggests that much of this landmark report was actually "misquoted, misinterpreted and often dead wrong." He goes on to track the origins of this Reagan-era document, suggesting that Cold War rhetoric and the need for better support from women voters led to the creation of what could arguably be the origins of the WASL and NCLB.

While Ansary does his homework to support his hypothesis, it left me wondering where we 'd be without "A Nation at Risk"? Would something else have come along to incite a similar reform in the K-12 world? With many subgroups of children still in need of remediation and support, it's tough to argue that we didn't need a catalyst for reform. Whether this was the right catalyst is another matter.

What do you think?