An important achievement is for a student to meet standard in all four areas. At the tenth grade, this is a 15 percent gain over the percentage of students meeting standard in all four areas last year. The District achieved its 2001 reading accountability goal with over 70 percent of fourth graders meeting standard in reading. The WASL is only one indicator of reading success. Other important indicators include students attitude toward reading as well as their confidence in their ability to read well.
Steps are in place to address the issue.
Because most of our fifth and sixth grades are in elementary schools while seventh grade is in middle school, we need to ensure strong communication links across these grade levels. Opportunities for fifth, sixth and seventh grade teachers to discuss meeting the needs of students will be available during the school year on districtwide early release days. Because meeting standard on the assessment is not yet a graduation requirement, it has typically been difficult to motivate all tenth graders to complete the test with their best effort. Students who do not complete the WASL or do not take it are considered as not having met standard, which impacts the overall District results. Last school year, high schools developed new strategies to encourage tenth graders to try their best on the assessment by offering a variety of incentives such as an off-campus pass for those who meet standard in all four areas tested.