math and science WASL delay heads for conference committee

That committee will iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions:

In an 81-17 vote, the House signaled its desire to replace math and science on the WASL with end-of-course exams in algebra, geometry and biology, as long as an independent third party agrees those exams would be superior to the WASL.

Senate Bill 6023 also calls for a five-year delay in the year that students must pass the math WASL to graduate — from 2008 to 2013. Students who fail, however, still would have to take additional math courses to earn their diplomas. Passing the science WASL also would not become a graduation requirement until 2013.

The one thing I like about end-of-course exams is that they fall at the end of a course, and can thus be directly tailored to the content, say, on the geometry or algebra curriculum--thus, "teaching to the test" just means teaching the class you should be teaching, not worrying about remediation and a generic curriculum.

They'd might even waste less time and fewer resources--and cause less trauma. At least, one can hope.