News Release
Everett Public Schools
September 19, 2006
For more information:
Mary Waggoner (425) 385-4049
Terry Edwards, 425-385-4059
WASL scores to arrive by September 29 and student learning plans next month
Middle school families in Everett will be the first to see the scores of students who took the Washington Assessment of
Student Learning (WASL) last spring.
Eisenhower, Gateway, Heatherwood, and North Middle School families will pick up their score reports during the parent
curriculum nights on Thursday, September 21.
This is good timing for teachers and for parents, noted Eisenhower Principal David Jones. The two people with the greatest
potential to influence each student's learning this year will be together at Thursday's gathering. It's the perfect timing to begin
the parent and teacher conversations that are so important all year long.
Evergreen Middle School curriculum night is scheduled for October, so Evergreen WASL scores are being mailed to families
on Wednesday, September 20. We want our middle school families to have the scores at the same time that other middle
school families do, said Principal Joyce Stewart. When teachers and families meet during the October curriculum night, we
hope families will bring the WASL scores with them so early conversations about scores and what they mean to individual
students can take place then.
H.M. Jackson High School parents will receive scores next week — during the high school's parent night scheduled for
Wednesday, September 27. Everett's other high schools — Everett High, Cascade, and Sequoia — will mail their reports to
families beginning September 25. All Washington state students scheduled to graduate in 2008 must pass the WASL as part
of the graduation requirements. Many Jackson High 10th graders opted to take the test early last year as 9th graders, and this
year's 11th graders all took the test last spring; some 11th graders re-took the test in August. The August re-takes are not yet
scored. Those results are expected in November.
The district's sixteen elementary schools are distributing scores during curriculum nights the week of September 25 or mailing
scores home to families. Every district family should have a WASL score report in hand no later than Friday, September 29,
said Associate Superintendent Karst Brandsma, whether they get those at a curriculum night or through the mail. This year our
district is distributing just over 10,800 score reports to individual students. Making sure those important reports arrive in time to
be helpful for this school year is a critical task for us right now.
Originally, the district had planned to package score reports with student learning plans. However, the time involved in
analyzing nearly 11,000 score reports and then crafting an appropriate learning plan is taking longer than anticipated say
district officials. Ideally, we would have preferred to put the two documents together. However, the state report does include
some general information that will be helpful to families, and our taking the time now to create useful student learning plans will
be more valuable for teachers and parents in the long term, said Brandsma. The student learning plan will fold WASL
information and other school performance indicators into a report designed for each student. The plan helps clarify strengths
and weaknesses and outlines ways parents and the school can support student learning all the way through high school
graduation.
For more information about WASL and the score reports, parents are advised to contact each child's school. The Office of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has produced a parent guide called Reaching Higher. Those will also be
distributed during evening parent gatherings or sent home with students. That document explains how to interpret WASL
scores and even gives some sample WASL test questions. That document and more information is also available on the Web
at www.waslinfo.org and at www.k12.wa.us/assessment
.
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