Comments regarding the WASL

made by Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe
Chair, Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee Hearing

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for coming. With my prerogative as Chair, I’d like to speak briefly about the WASL and today’s hearing.

The WASL isn’t just about passing a test – it’s a tool that helps our students earn a meaningful diploma. It’s not a perfect system right now, but I think the data is showing that the WASL is really making a positive difference, and it deserves work to make it an even better system for ALL kids.

There are some real success stories from around the state.

The students and staff at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle are an amazing example of success, almost completely turning around the number of students who failed sections of the WASL in 2002 vs. 2007.

In 2002, only 29 percent of students passed the reading section, but in 2007, 70 percent passed.

In the math section, where we know we need to focus statewide attention on, Rainier Beach saw their passage rate go from 6 percent in 2002 to 37 percent in 2007.

The progress isn’t just in Seattle. At Granger High School outside of Yakima, reading scores increased by 39 percent from 2002 to 2007 and writing scores rose by 29 percent.

But even with those successes, we know that the system isn’t reaching all students. Helping students who sometimes have a lot working against them is our hardest task:

Students with learning disabilities
English Language Learners
Students who live in poverty

The Institute for Public Policy report shows an ethnic achievement gap for WASL assessments

We need to understand what works best for these students so we can keep them in school and give them the opportunity to succeed that every one of our students deserve.

This is why I’ve proposed legislation that focuses on creating new, targeted programs for the kids that need more help. We also need to create viable WASL alternatives for students, because the WASL shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Thank you again for coming today, and with that, we will begin the hearing.

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