The news is heartening, troubling and a bit in between in the latest results of the state exam known as the WASL.

On Tuesday, state schools chief Terry Bergeson announced that results from last spring’s Washington Assessment of Student Learning show:

 • This fall’s incoming 12th-graders are setting a slightly faster pace at meeting new graduation testing requirements than last year’s seniors did.

 • Scores in science, the most recent addition to the WASL, rose 3 to 6 percentage points in the three tested grades. At least 40 percent of fifth-, eighth- and 10th-graders passed that section.

 • Reading and math scores appear to have “stalled out” in most grades.

Part of the reason for the stagnation may lie in schools spreading their efforts to bring more students up to standard, as the number of grades tested has expanded the past couple of years.

Meanwhile, some schools are making healthy gains in test scores, yet still wind up labeled as “needing improvement” under the “one-size-fits-all” requirements of the federal accountability system, Bergeson said.

The state plans to release lists of schools making adequate yearly progress under the federal requirements Thursday.

“My hypothesis is people are worn out and discouraged,” Bergeson said.

This spring’s version of the WASL will help address schools’ concern about testing fatigue, she said. The exam for third through eighth grades will be one-third shorter than past years, but, she insisted, just as rigorous and statistically reliable.

Bergeson’s announcement serves as the annual progress report on how well students are meeting statewide standards as measured by the WASL.

Students in third through eighth and 10th grades took the reading and math exams last spring; certain grades also tackled the writing or science portions. Results are reported in the percentage of students who meet standard, or pass the individual test sections.

READING AND MATH

Bergeson’s testing staff could find no anomalies in this year’s WASL to explain the stagnant scores in reading and math, she said.

Reading pass rates remained within 1 percentage point of last year’s scores in four grade levels, and dropped by more than 4 percentage points in fourth and seventh grades. Fifth-graders were the only youngsters to significantly advance their pass rate.

Referring to a chart showing that 63 percent to 75 percent of students across the grades met the reading benchmark, Bergeson said, “We are stalled out here. We’ve got to address how we get the next 30 percent of those students, particularly in the elementary and middle grades,” to standard.

The picture is more dismal for math, she said.

Traditionally lower than reading scores, math results ranged from 68 percent in third grade to 49 percent in sixth and 10th grades this year.

Passing rates rose slightly in two grades but fell in four grades and remained about the same in one.

“We have a lot of turmoil around mathematics right now. We’re in a transition,” Bergeson said.

The state has developed new math standards, is reviewing math textbooks and will develop new math tests. Bergeson is confident that the changes will result in higher math performance.

The reading and math results are among several factors that determine whether schools and districts meet achievement benchmarks under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

She warned that many more schools will not meet achievement targets because this year’s goals are higher than last year’s.

POLITICAL ISSUE

Bergeson advocates changes to the “deeply flawed” federal accountability system to more appropriately assess special education students and students learning to speak English. She also wants to see schools recognized for improving student achievement and receive more resources to help teachers bring students to standard.

Randy Dorn, who hopes to unseat Bergeson as the state superintendent of public instruction in November, found fault with her reporting of the scores and design of the WASL. Dorn said that shortening the test will not address concerns that it should be more “diagnostic” to give teachers and parents more specifics on how to help their children.

“I think it was very telling that our fourth-graders and seventh-graders have again gone down in math and reading,” he said. “I have a big concern we’re headed in the wrong direction.”

He also criticized Bergeson for releasing the WASL results separately from the federal accountability results. He said he thinks Bergeson is putting a positive spin on the WASL scores and blaming Congress and the federal law for the accountability standards.

Bergeson said she is reporting the federal results separately because it’s too complicated to explain how those results are derived, along with the WASL results and progress of various graduating classes.

GRADUATION AT STAKE

Passing the exam holds personal significance for high school students. They must pass the 10th-grade reading and writing WASL, or a state-approved alternative, as one of several graduation requirements that went into effect starting with last June’s graduates.

According to the latest results:

 • The Class of 2008, last year’s 12th-graders, saw a small increase to 93 percent of their members passing the reading and writing requirement, up 1.5 percentage points from June. Those who also passed the math WASL or alternative stood at 69 percent.

 • In the Class of 2009, 86 percent of incoming 12th-graders have passed both the WASL reading and writing sections now required to graduate. That compares to just under 84 percent of their counterparts at this time last year.

 • In the Class of 2010, 75 percent of incoming 11th-graders have fulfilled both the reading and writing WASL requirements.

Despite the gains for high school students, Rich Wood, spokesman for the Washington Education Association, said, “Educators still have concerns about the way the WASL is being used as a high-stakes test. We may be proposing additional changes during the legislative season to the way the WASL is used.”

Parents and community members tend to focus on gains and losses across school districts and make comparisons when WASL scores are released. Schools officials look for trends so they can see what’s working and where course corrections are needed.

But the scores are most meaningful on a student-by-student level, Tacoma School District spokeswoman Leanna Albrecht said. Individual results are crucial for helping kids, she said.

Tacoma’s scores, for example, show that about 14 of Stadium High School 10th-graders failed to make the standard in writing.

“The obvious next step is to identify those students and determine the interventions needed to support them,” she said.

Debby Abe: 253-597-8694

Staff writer Kris Sherman contributed to this report.

more coverage for BACK-TO-SCHOOL WEEK

COMING FRIDAY: Find out which schools made adequate progress under federal requirements.

COMING SUNDAY: Early release, late start, days off? What’s the deal with the school calendars?

COMING MONDAY: What’s new in area school districts.

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