State lawmakers voted to phase out the math WASL earlier this month, and Gregoire told The Associated Press she supported the switch. The Democratic governor made good on the pledge Wednesday when she signed the policy into law.

The high school Class of 2013 remains the first group of students who must pass a math test to graduate, but the state will now give those students the option of passing either the WASL or individual course exams. In 2014, the math WASL will be jettisoned entirely.

This year’s seniors still face the existing graduation requirements: They must either pass the math WASL, pass a state-approved alternative, or take and pass additional math classes.

The change also doesn’t eliminate 10th-grade reading and writing WASLs, nor does it phase out math WASLs in grades three through eight.

Lawmakers have earmarked about $3.2 million to develop the individual course tests that would replace the math WASL.

ONLY ABOUT 50 PERCENT PASSED

Last year, Gregoire vetoed the option of testing students on individual course skills – such as algebra or geometry – instead of a comprehensive test, preferring to study the issue first.

Although she now favors the individual course tests, Gregoire has said it remains critical that the 2013 deadline for a math graduation requirement not be delayed any longer.

Last year, just 50.4 percent of 10th-graders who took the math section of the WASL passed, while 80.8 percent passed reading and 83.9 percent passed writing, according to the state schools superintendent.

State Rep. Dave Quall, D-Mount Vernon, chairman of the House Education Committee, said Washington’s schools basically are going back to the “final exam” approach that educators used long before the switch to the WASL, at least for math.

Quall conceded that the state is giving up on that particular part of the WASL.

“In writing and reading, the WASL assessment has been given a higher grade,” Quall said. “We’re getting over 90 percent of the students. But with math, 40 percent are not making it. There’s a belief that with end-of-course exams, there will be higher scores.”

Washington is not alone, he said.

NEW EXAMS WILL SET STANDARDS

“There are a lot of states now that are turning to end-of-course exams,” Quall said. “There’s definitely a trend. Sixteen states have shifted to end-of-course exams.”

Tacoma School District interim Superintendent Art Jarvis said students and the public should have a clearer understanding of the new assessments because tests will be based on the class the teens just completed. He noted that one of the problems with the math WASL is that students may have studied material – for instance, algebra – a year or more before they take the current exams, which covers both algebraic and geometric concepts.

He also believes it’s possible for the state to develop the new exams and set high math standards.

“Certainly the (math) WASL system hasn’t been successful yet,” he said. “This will be an understandable system so students understand what it means to demonstrate their proficiency and … not have the WASL as a confused specter hanging over their heads.”

‘A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME’

Al Cohen, interim superintendent of the Clover Park School District, also welcomed word of the new high school tests.

“There’s been a lot of controversy over the WASL math questions,” Cohen said. “Going with end-of-course exams will offer a good alternative.”

While the 11,700-student Lakewood-area district is providing a variety of interventions to help students in math, Cohen said the change in assessments also would increase teens’ chance for success in meeting the state standard.

“There’s a good likelihood more students would pass a math test that wasn’t tied to the WASL because it would be a test that is an outcome of the course,” Cohen said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said the change was a common-sense approach worth trying, in part because the state’s new high school math standards are being organized by class.

Still, Bergeson told The Seattle Times she has some reservations: “We may have better performance, but it’s a whole new ballgame.”

School district superintendents would prefer that the state settle on one way of testing students and complete its rewrite of math standards, said Barbara Mertens, assistant director of the Washington Association of School Administrators.

“The greatest heartburn is that things keep changing,” Mertens said.

News Tribune staff writers Joseph Turner and Debby Abe contributed to this report.