WASL - MATH = WA-Sup?

(WASL test) - (math portion) = higher graduation rate

Complaining + (low achievement) = no Math WASL

Continued bailout plans + low accountability = What? I stopped paying attention weeks ago. No one’s ever really going to test me on math. 

They just can’t stick with the plan. 

The math WASL, the numeric roadblock looming on the horizon for Washington high school graduates, is no more. 

I’ve blogged about this before, and reprinted the last blog (from May of 2007) below. Basically, the math WASL is being phased out in favor of end-of-course exams. Once again, school officials and legislators are shouldering the blame for low math scores, and offering another easy way out. 

Here’s my favorite part of the whole debacle. Over 50 percent of the kids who took the test last year passed. That’s half. Half of the high school students in Washington, apparently, can do this. You literally only have to be average in order to pass. 

Is that setting the bar too high? It doesn’t seem like it to me. 

They’re taking this test, which the average student can pass, and tossing it (and the millions of dollars spent developing, improving, and training people to administer it). Why? Not everyone can pass it. 

What’s the point of giving out a test everyone can pass? That’s like running a race and telling everyone they’re a winner. It’s like going bowling and not keeping score. It’s like a three-hour soccer game that ends in a tie.

The whole point of the WASL is to make high school math courses matter. No one ever bothers to look at the students and place a little blame there. Half of them can pass, so why can’t the other half? Obviously SOME of these kids learned enough to pass the test. SOME of the teachers are doing something right. 

And what’s it tell the kids who actually paid attention in class, sucked it up, took on the math WASL and beat it? Perhaps ... this?

STUDENT_RICK: Alright, I beat the Math WASL! The world is my oyster! I have achieved! I will graduate, in an era where high school diplomas suddenly carry weight in the real world! My work ethic, determination and ability to retain conceptual knowledge are unparalleled!

STATE_O_WASH: Wrong. 

STUDENT_RICK: Huh? But I studied! I missed an entire season of basketball learning trigonometry! I quit my job and skipped at least two cool parties! I didn’t get a date for homecoming because I wasted all my time reading math books! 

STATE_O_WASH: Dude, that sucks.  

STUDENT_RICK: I’ve wasted my youth! I’ve — wait, why, exactly, is that wrong? Was there a mistake in my initial scoring?

STATE_O_WASH: Nope, you passed alright. The fact of the matter is, I don’t really care. Too many other kids don’t pass, so I tossed the test, bro. Here’s the new test.

STUDENT_RICK: This isn’t a test. This is a copy of my algebra homework from last week, with the answers erased. 

STATE_O_WASH: Nope, that’s our new end-of-course exam. We spent like $3 mill on that, bro. It’s replacing the WASL.

STUDENT_RICK: This literally has my name on the top. That’s my hand-writing.  

STATE_O_WASH: Hey, if you don’t like it, you can complain, but there’s only like a 90 percent chance we’ll change it to something easier. 

FLUNKIE_08: Whoa whoa whoa this be unpossible. 

STATE_O_WASH: (takes “end of course” test, throws it in blue recycling bin, hands FLUNKIE_08 a blank note card) Here, bro, just write your name on this and we’ll call it even. How many diplomas should I put you down for? Two? Three? Oh, wait, this is Washington, you don’t know what those numbers mean. 

FLUNKIE_08: I’ll take sixtwelve, please.

STUDENT_RICK: (transfers to private school)

All this is teaching anyone is that if you don’t like something, complain until they make it easier enough for everyone to pass. Although, the whole reason for the WASL was that math classes were so easy everyone could pass ... but that’s old news now. 

This is how I understand it. Instead of taking the state-approved, covers-all-bases math WASL exam, kids finish up their sophomore year and take an exit exam on that class. Maybe it’s geometry, maybe it’s Algebra, but they have to pass. 

At least, that’s what they’re saying now. When I started this job everyone was scared to death of the 2008 WASL math deadline. It got pushed back. 

Then they were scared of the 2013 WASL math deadline. Now there’s still going to be a sect of paranoid parents and educators worried about end-of-course exams, where they basically test you to make sure you’ve learned something from the class you were just taking. It’s just another step towards simplifying the test to the point of where everyone can pass. 

Also, it’s letting people like this win.

Here, in small print, is my May, 2007 WASL blog. 

Madness? THIS IS WASL!!!!!!Aaron VanTuyl   

(May, 2007) It's Wednesday morning and I've just learned that the Math and Science portions of the WASL test have been suspended until at least 2013 by Gov. Christine Gregoire. That means this year's junior class will still have to pass the Reading and Writing parts of the WASL to graduate, just not the hard parts.

"Can't do it?" state officials are asking. "Sorry, it's our fault. We'll just work on a solution for five more years. You can go back to using your math books as $70 fly swatters and sleeping through science lab."

Now, of course, the average Washington high school graduate will have strong language arts abilities and continue to struggle with math. They'll be able to read the menu in Olympia's most exquisite ethnic restaurants, breaking down dish names into root words to determine their ingredients and flavors. After dinner, however, they'll struggle to divvy up the check and give themselves headaches figuring a 15 percent tip on their $40 lobster bisque ($6, for those of you out there keeping track). As I've said before, the math section isn't easy. But as I've also said, it's not like the kids aren't prepared. They've basically been training for it for ten years by the time they actually take the test. They've been through an education system tailor-made to get kids passing the Math section.

Compare this with ancient Sparta (I saw Frank Miller's "The 300" fairly recently), where kids start agoge (military training) at age seven. Sure, it's an extreme example, but even that system had to begin somewhere. During the first few years, was IT ever postponed?

Spartan Mom Against Agoge: "Hey, there, King Leonidas, uh, I'm not so sure this is a good idea. I mean, we toss our young weaklings off a cliff to being with, and now about half our kids are living through this whole agoge training thing, and I don't think the dead ones feel too good about themselves. I'm all for a tougher generation, but don't you think this is a little hard-core? Shouldn't we put them through something they can ALL pass?"

King: "If they can ALL pass, what's the point? I guess when the Persians come, we can ALL share Sparta. How's that sound? Do YOU want to go ahead and give up your farm?"

SMAA: "Hey, I'm all for Sparta, I just want EVERYONE to have a shot at passing. Can we, like, have a few more options, or give them a couple extra tries before they die?"

King: "Listen, if your little Wussacles isn't going to pass, you're more than welcome to go throw him into the canyon yourself and have another kid. We've got lil' Spartans out there, eight years old, stealing and eating live chickens so they've got enough food to stay alive. Hercules himself would think twice before picking a fight down at the Spar Pub."

 SMAA: "Fine. Put too much pressure on them. They're just kids, you know. See what happens."

King: "They start off kids, but we make them MEN. A big chunk of 'em die. And we're the toughest army in the world. Deal with it." (kicks SMAA into a large, inexplicably placed stone well)

Now, I'm not saying all the kids in Washington should be able to pass the WASL on the first try. As my interpretation of King Leonidas pointed out, if they can all pass, there's no real point in having a test. And passing rates should be higher, but the teachers and school districts and parents and legislators should all stop hogging the blame. Everyone takes driver's education, but not everyone passes the driver's test. Does anyone have a right to blame their parents, the driver's ed teacher, the guy at the DMV, the car, or the government?

Of course not. I failed my first driver's test and my friends and family laughed at me for a week. I practiced, thought about it, and passed the second time. It's not that uncommon. That's what happens when kids run up against something tough: they're supposed to get worried. They're supposed to stress out. They're supposed to study. And, if they can, they're supposed to pass. If not? There's a laundry list of alternate options and training, including free practice, four more tries and at least two alternate assessments.

What good does a delay do? Nothing. Delaying the test is only going to reinforce the idea that the WASL Math section will never actually, really, truly, honestly be real. The delay looks like another excuse for state lawmakers and educators to sit back and idly wonder why more kids aren't passing the WASL. You want to know why? They don't think anyone's serious. Everyone's been telling them they can't pass and so they aren't really trying. Fail a few of them. Hold back a few diplomas and see what it does for the following year's numbers. It's the basic Spartan methodology.

Maybe they should stop short of throwing kids into canyons, flogging them to death during WASL training and making them steal pencils, pens and calculators with which to take the test. But tossing a few unearned diplomas into a fireplace might not hurt.