WASL faces uncertain future

Pity our standardized test. It was hauled onto the court as a first-round draft pick, going to turn the team around with its slam-dunk accountability ability. Now it languishes on the bench as legislators run up and down the court. (The basketball gathers dust in the corner of the gym, over by the water fountain and the pile of reeking sweatpants.)

The state Senate passed Senate Bill 6475 by a 33-10 vote Friday. It would set up alternative routes to graduation for some students, such as putting together a portfolio of work. The House passed a similar measure late Thursday.

Lawmakers in the two chambers are expected to resolve the differences between the two bills.

That last sentence is crucial. Some of the wrinkles to be ironed out:

The House and Senate bills differ in several ways. For example, the House version requires that students have 95 percent attendance at school in order to take an alternative route. The Senate version contains no such requirement.

The bills also differ over who would be allowed to go the portfolio route. The House version limits that option to students in small schools or approved career and technical programs. The Senate bill does not have a restriction.

The House bill also would let students substitute a failing math score with a good performance on the math section of another standardized test, such as the SAT. The Senate bill doesn't provide that option.

And the Senate version allows students who don't meet the graduation requirements needed to obtain a regular diploma to get a "certificate of academic progress" and participate in graduation ceremonies. The House bill does not have that provision.

Of course, Christine Gregoire has to sign whatever legislation lands on her desk, and she'll be under enormous pressure from both sides, no matter what the lawmakers recommend.

The SAT-substitute proposal makes much sense to me. In fact, I'd argue that SAT Math and WASL Math scores correlate closely enough to scrap the far more expensive WASL version, which requires extra writing and thus extra assessment. (Scroll down to page 5 of this PDF for the data.)

More important, though: we haven't yet seen what our students can do when the pressure's on and the test actually counts. Until then, as House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler puts it, "We're floundering around probably just as much as the kids are."