Posted December 13, 2006

Editor's note: Below is the text of a letter sent by Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson to superintendents and principals clarifying the earlier announcement made by Gov. Gregoire and herself about proposed changes to the math WASL graduation requirement.

Dear Colleagues:

As you all know, I’ve long been a champion of sticking to our standards and not letting another year go by when we graduate kids without the skills we know they need.

I deeply respect and honor the educators and students who have worked so hard to meet the math standards. But I also pay close attention to the information on both student achievement and system readiness. And the scores I saw in June – and again this fall, following the August retakes – were a compelling argument for adjusting our course.

There is a point where inflexibility in defense of standards becomes unreasonable and unfair – and a point where inflexibility may jeopardize our progress rather than accelerate it.

That’s why Governor Gregoire and I announced our joint proposal for improving math education and temporarily modifying the graduation requirement for the classes of 2008, 2009, and 2010. This is a topic she and I have been discussing for several months.

Some of the published reports about the press conference are confusing, so I would like to clarify what we proposed. This is what we said in our joint press release:

“The Governor and Superintendent are proposing that students who have not passed the high school WASL keep taking rigorous math classes until they graduate, or until they pass the test. Taking the test or an approved alternative would be required annually. The option of allowing students to graduate without passing the math WASL would remain in place for three years – for the graduating classes of 2008, 2009, and 2010.”

We are emphatically NOT proposing that the graduation requirement simply be delayed, as some news outlets have reported. We are proposing an additional alternative. The Governor and I are strongly committed to ensuring that students stay enrolled in rigorous math classes, aligned with our standards and to students’ needs, that prepare them for college, work and life.

Equally important, the Governor and I agree on the urgent need for the state to adopt a coherent and well funded plan to improve math education. OSPI, the State Board of Education, and the Professional Educator Standards Board have drafted such a plan, and the State Board of Education adopted it yesterday.

The key elements of the plan are:

• clarifying and prioritizing our standards, and adjusting the WASL where appropriate,
• identifying a limited menu of curricula, diagnostic assessments, and intervention materials aligned with our standards and assessments to better assist schools and districts,
• increasing the math requirements in teacher preparation programs and improving the math professional development options for teachers in the field, and
• adopting more rigorous course requirements and competencies for graduation.

I urge you to take a look at the complete plan, which will be on the State Board’s Web site (www.sbe.wa.gov) in a few days.

I recognize that this is a decision that will be made by the Legislature, and that it will require an intensive, statewide conversation to get to consensus. The Governor and I hope to lead the effort to build that consensus. I hope you will help us.

We all agree that our kids need math skills, and that our 21st-century economy needs graduates skilled in math, science and technology. And we all agree that we need to improve math education in Washington.

This year, as a result of Washington Learns and the Governor’s leadership, we have the best opportunity in many years to get the resources we need to build greater capacity in math education.

I truly value your perspectives and opinions about this issue, and I am sorry if any of you have been confused by the press coverage. I will formalize a way to seek your advice as we work out detailed implementation plans. I look forward to continuing to work with you to win legislative support for these proposals during the coming months.

Sincerely,

Dr. Terry Bergeson

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