PORT ANGELES — Almost half of the current Port Angeles High School ninth grade — 45 percent — failed to pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test when they took it in the seventh grade.
Each of these students — like all students in the class of 2008 and beyond — will have to pass the reading, writing and math portions of 10th grade WASL test before they can graduate.
That’s state law.
While this presents an ominous scenario for many students and parents, it also provides a vexing problem for teachers and administrators who are required by the state to develop individual plans for each of those students to improve the student’s academic achievement.
Many officials say that while those plans are needed, they and similar “unfunded mandates” from the Legislature are stretching district resources thin.
Student learning plans
Starting this year, state regulations require that the school district track every student who didn’t pass the WASL in the seventh grade once they are enrolled in high school.
At Port Angeles High School, that’s almost half of this year’s freshman class, or 197 students.
Each of these students has had a student learning plan developed for him or her, which requires school officials to arrange parent-teacher conferences, track each individual’s progress in the specific academic area he or she needs help in, and generally develop a strategy for the student’s improvement.
This process helps teachers keep on top of students who need to improve, said Scott Harker, Port Angeles High School principal.
But it’s also a time-consuming process.
“Not only does it take up staff time, but it takes monitoring the kids to make sure that they are making progress,” Harker said.
“And that implies we are assessing them, monitoring their assessment and comparing it with their plan.
“That takes time.”
