WASL alternative bills headed for House vote

By John Vlahovich
Spokane Public Radio

Washington House Education committee members Wednesday morning forwarded a pair of bills that nibble around the edges of the state’s student assessment controversy. One allows alternatives to the existing WASL test, the other sets up a study of the WASL.

The main complaint voiced prior to this morning Education committee vote on the bill to allow alternative methods of student assessment was that it shortchanges many Washington students.

The bill authorizes State School Superintendent Terry Bergeson to offer a trio of alternatives.

That’s not enough, said Sharon Santos, a Seattle Democrat. Too many students won’t qualify for one of the allowed alternative assessments.

“They are going to have to be forced to use the existing paper and pen assessment of student learning and if they can’t demonstrate their mastery of the subject matter with that single measure then they have to endure, not us, not the superintendent, the label of failure twice,” Santos said.

Students would have to fail the WASL twice before they could take an alternative.

Although other Education committee members echoed Santos’ view, they agreed to recommend passage by the entire House. The measure already has cleared the Washington Senate.

Committee members also recommended passage of a companion measure requiring a two-year study of possible options to the WASL test.

Republican Gigi Talcott, from Lakewood near Tacoma, said the study goes hand-in-hand with the WASL alternatives bill.

“If we were only doing a study this year, this would be a huge disappointment. But we have made great progress in making pathways for the class of 2008 that hopefully will make it to the governor’s desk and into the students’ lives,” said Talcott.

Legislators want an interim report of the study’s findings by the end of this year with the final report and recommendations due at the end of 2007.