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closeSeniors set standard on the WASL
Nearly all of Puyallup School District seniors meet Reading and Writing WASL requirements
Chris Albert
Puyallup School District seniors received an early graduation present earlier this month – nearly all of the 1,472 seniors passed the reading and writing portion of the WASL.
“Clearly our focus has been improving student learning and all of these numbers are a testament to how well our students are doing at all of the high schools,” said Superintendent Tony Apostle. “This demonstrates we developed a plan, stayed with the plan and now the plan is working. The school board is strong in its focus and has been a good model or working together as a team. This teamwork is also exemplified by our talented teachers, administrators and support staff.”
More than 98 percent of seniors passed the reading and writing portion of the WASL. State-wide the average was about 91 percent. Among the 20 largest school districts in the state, Puyallup was ranked first followed by the Issaquah School District.
“That is very strong,” said Bob Silverman, with the district. “We exceeded everyone.”
Silverman credited a lot of factors for the high passage rate: teachers of been working hard with students, students wanting to succeed, parents wanting success, the school board wanting students to excel as well as district administrators.
“It’s really everyone working together in the same direction,” Silverman said. “It validated all our efforts.”
This is the first year passing the reading and writing part of the WASL was a graduation requirement. Familiarity with the test may have played into it too, Silverman said. Many of the seniors have taken the WASL their entire school careers.
The district also hired former teachers as graduation specialists to focus and support struggling students.
“I think that had a lot to do with our success rate as well,” Silverman said.
It’s not too late for the students who didn’t pass the standardized test requirement either, he said.
“We haven’t stopped working for them,” Silverman said. “We are working hard for each and every one of those students.”
In some cases the district is appealing the test results to the state and also working on alternative ways for students to reach the requirement, whether it’s a matter of English as a second language or they just are not good test takers.
For those that are not good at taking tests, Silverman said, they can meet the requirement by creating a portfolio.
The district has seen the portfolio as an option have great success in the math portion of the WASL. Although the math part will not be a graduation requirement until 2013, students still must take math courses and annually attempt the test or a state approved alternative.
Of the 198 students who turned in a portfolio instead of taking the math test, every single one of them met the requirement, Silverman said.
For those who struggle in a high test environment it can mean the difference between graduating and not graduating, he said.
And overall 87 percent of seniors passed the math portion.
“On the face of it we’re pretty pleased with that number,” Silverman said. “Again it represents a lot of hard work.”