Washington State's Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission voted unanimously this week to lower the passing score in reading and math for fourth- and seventh-graders, and recommended lowering the pass score for the tenth-grade reading test on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), the statewide accountability test. The changes to the 4th- and 7th-grade tests will go into effect this year, but the 10th-grade test changes must first be approved by the state legislature. The commission left unanswered the more pressing question of what students will have to score on the WASL to earn their diplomas once passing the test becomes a graduation requirement in 2008. Critics, including the Washington Education Association, blasted the review process for insufficient minority input, the state for not spending enough on education, and the even lower standards for still being too stringent. At least one commission member, Jim Spady, pressed the WEA representative asking "If there's nothing we can do to satisfy you, then why should we care what you say?"
"Panel lowers bar for passing parts of WASL," by Linda Shaw, Seattle Times, May 11, 2004
"WASL panel lowers 4th, 7th-grade passing bar," Olympian, May 12, 2004