WASL Woes

After our illustrious President decided that No Child Left Behind would be a good thing to ramrod through Congress, we all get to pick up after him. The main thing that came of it in Washington state is the WASL exam. Taken by high school students, our state legislature decided that only those students who pass all of the sections of the WASL (which is made up of multiple-choice, short answer, problem solving and essay questions on a variety of topics: reading, writing, mathematics, and science are a few), as well as scoring a 2.0 or higher grade point average would graduate from high school. It was thought that these standards would compel students to achieve at a high level, as well as being able to read their own diplomas.

The only problem is that scores were abysmally low across the board in the last year. Roughly a third of all test takers were able to pass all of the required sections, and an altogether too-high percentage of students were unable to attain a 2.0 average to pass high school.

So, rather than sticking to their guns, the legislature decided that the 2.0 requirement would be waived, and that the WASL requirements would be similarly tossed out. In essence, the test means nothing.

I propose that any family that spent money on preparing for the test should file a lawsuit with the state. Furthermore, this sends a horrible message to the students who actually did pass the sections: you might strive for something, but it can be capriciously taken away by someone else's utter whim.

I've had problems with the WASL examination for various reasons, and I don't think it should determine whether a person can graduate, but it is totally unfair to pull the rug out from under students who have been playing by certain rules, only to have the game changed on space #99.

Fie on you, legislators. Fie.