“It’s just a beautiful victory,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson said Tuesday while releasing the spring WASL results.

The Class of 2008 seniors are the first who must meet several new statewide graduation requirements, including passing the statewide exam or an alternative.

South Sound district officials were just as pleased with the success of their seniors.

“We are extremely proud of our students, parents, staff and community,” said Diane Turner, spokeswoman for the Federal Way School District, where 95 percent of its 1,246 seniors met the reading and writing standards. “It took all of us working together to help prepare the Class of 2008 for academic success and their futures.”

Bergeson released the success rates for the 67,099 seniors statewide in the Class of 2008 as of May. The number doesn’t include another 5,500 class members who may have dropped out, lack enough credits to be considered seniors, or transferred out of state.

She was most excited about the accomplishments of low-income students and students of some minority groups who have struggled to meet state standards.

Students have several more opportunities to make the grade, including retaking the WASL in August and submitting a “collection of evidence,” or classwork samples, this month, but results won’t be available for several months.

Besides meeting the reading and writing standards, 12th-graders must pass the math WASL or, if they’ve failed it, take and pass a year’s worth of math classes and reattempt the test.

Students must also earn a minimum number of course credits, complete a culminating project and write a plan of what they’ll do after graduation.

Bergeson’s message to those who won’t graduate this year: “Don’t give up. You can stay with us this summer. You can stay for another year. It’s worth it to get the skills you need for the future.”

Preliminary results among the South Sound’s largest school districts included:

 • In Puyallup, 98.8 percent of 1,472 seniors met the reading and writing requirements, district officials announced. Just 17 seniors have yet to meet the requirement, and several of them have appealed based on special circumstances or will submit a collection of evidence, an alternative allowing students to compile class assignments to demonstrate they know the content tested on the WASL.

Puyallup, which offers classes to help students prepare the collections, enjoyed a 100 percent success rate among its 198 juniors and seniors who submitted a math collection this spring. Another 25 students met standards in reading and seven in writing based on their collections.

“Clearly our focus has been on improving student learning, and all of these numbers are 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 of working together as a team. This teamwork is also exemplified by our talented teachers, administrators and support staff.”

 • In Tacoma, 91 percent of its 1,461 seniors met reading and writing standards. That included 87 percent of black students and 87 percent of American Indian students.

“We are pleased with the overall results for our seniors in the Class of 2008, particularly our African American and Native American students who performed higher that the state average,” said Superintendent Art Jarvis. “But, we recognize that we have kids who are not making it, and that spells out the work to be done. Our goal is to increase the achievement of all students and close the achievement gap.”

Under the new district and school improvement plans, he said, “We have an intensified emphasis on closing the achievement gap. We will use data from this assessment to assist in providing the necessary instruction, resources and support for students who are struggling.”

 • In the Bethel School District, about 91 percent of its 1,213 seniors met reading and writing benchmarks. That compared to 48 percent of the class passing reading and 55 percent passing writing on the WASL in seventh grade, district spokesman Mark Wenzel noted.

“We’re incredibly pleased with the progress of the Class of 2008. They’re a perfect example of how important it is to expect great things from our students,” Wenzel said. “… When we expect more, students deliver.

“The challenge remains math and science. With 60 percent of our seniors meeting standard in math, we know that we have our work cut out for us. This is an area we will continue to hit hard.”

 • In the Clover Park School District, 90 percent of its 392 seniors met reading and writing requirements. “We are very proud of work the students in the Class of 2008 have done to be successful in meeting the WASL requirement for graduation,” said Feng-Yi Hung, director of assessment and program evaluation.

“Many of our students come from military families, and they had less time to meet the new state requirement. Our parents and staff should also be recognized for their efforts in assisting students toward meeting this graduation requirement.”

News Tribune staff writer Debby Abe contributed to this report.

Class of 2008 12th-graders: A progress report

This shows the number and percent of 12th-graders in the Class of 2008 who passed reading and writing on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or a state-approved alternative, as part of new statewide graduation requirements. Students who also meet the math WASL or alternative get a Certificate of Academic Achievement; special education students who also meet the math requirement get a Certificate of Individual Achievement.

These numbers do not include 5,500 12th-graders who dropped out, were reclassified into lower grades or transferred out of state.

There are 67,099 12th-graders in Washington’s Class of 2008.

StatusNUMBERPERCENTAGE

Met WASL or alternative61,32791.4%

Met reading, writing & math to earn:

Certificate of Academic Achievement 45,29867.51%

Certificate of Individual Achievement 2,0293.02%

Met reading & writing14,000

20.86%

Not met WASL or alternative5,7728.6%

Need reading only1,0101.51%

Need writing only1,1391.70%

Need reading & writing3,6235.40% Key WASL dates

Monday-June 13: Individual WASL scores released to students in grades 10, 11, 12.

June 9-27: Registration for high school WASL retakes in August

Aug. 11-14: High school WASL retakes

Early September: Individual WASL scores released to students in all grades

 • For more information on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, go to www.k12.wa.us. HOW DISTRICTS FARED

Preliminary figures from the state show that the vast majority of seniors in local school districts have passed the reading and writing portions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning or a state-approved alternative. Most have also earned a Certificate of Academic Achievement, which also requires them to pass the math WASL or alternative.

The numbers may differ from statistics supplied by individual school districts, which have more updated data.

School DistrictPassed reading/writing WASLEarned CAA

Auburn92%62%

Bethel91%57%

Clover Park90%53%

Eatonville91%64%

Enumclaw95%66%

Federal Way95%74%

Fife91%65%

Franklin Pierce91%62%

North Thurston92%59%

Orting96%61%

Peninsula97%79%

Puyallup*96%78%

Steilacoom92%67%

Sumner95%69%

Tacoma91%58%

University Place95%76%

White River92%55%

Yelm81%60%