The Oak Harbor School District met its goals with last spring’s Washington Assessment of Student Learning, but it still looks like juniors will need some help, particularly in math, in order to graduate in 2008.

WASL results released this week show that only 43.9 percent of last year’s tenth graders passed the math portion of the test. That is the sixth year of flat results for the math assessment.

“The heaviest bar to lift right now is Oak Harbor High School,” said David Peterson, school district assistant superintendent.

“We have to make significant gains in that requirement,” said curriculum director Charisse Berner of the math test.

Between 36.1 percent and 47.1 percent of the sophomores passed the math portion of the assessment over the past six years. In 2005, 47.5 percent of the sophomores passed the math test.

The flat math results come as more and more students are taking, and succeeding, in higher levels of math. However, officials are focusing on students who continue to fall behind in the subject.

“We still have the same number of kids who are struggling,” Peterson said.

The school district has implemented several programs to help improve performance on the WASL.

There is a math coach at the high school who works with teachers to improve their teaching techniques. A math coach has been successful in helping drive up scores at several elementary schools.

Students needing math help can also take courses before and after school, take a second math class during the school day or attend summer school. This year students can take a new computerized, individually-tailored, algebra class the school district is piloting. The district received $200,000 from the state to provide the remediation programs. Students also have five chances to pass the 10-grade WASL before completing their senior year.

The stakes are high for high school students to pass the WASL. Starting with the class of 2008 it is a requirement for graduation. It looks like a majority will need some help in the coming months. Only 47 percent of the sophomores last spring passed all sections of the WASL.

The new scores show 78.8 percent of the sophomores passed the reading section while 78 percent passed the writing. Math was the downfall of many.

As a whole, school officials are encouraged by the results of last spring’s WASL.

“Overall we’re pleased,” Berner said.

The school district met its proficiency goals in math and reading in fourth, seventh and 10th grades. In math, the school district has shown steady improvement in fourth and seventh grades over the past six years. More than 60 percent of the fourth graders and 56 percent of seventh graders passed the math assessment.

In reading, fourth and 10th grade showed an increase over the last year while seventh grade slightly dropped. The results show 83.8 percent of the fourth graders, 69.5 percent of the seventh graders and 78.8 percent of the 10th-graders passed the reading assessment.

When compared to the statewide scores, the school district’s 10th grade results are slightly lower in math, reading and writing. The statewide scores, which were released Friday morning, show 81.9 percent of students passed reading, 51 percent passed math and 79.7 passed writing.

In other grades statewide, 61.5 percent of the seventh graders passed reading, 48.5 percent passed math and 64.5 percent passed writing while 81.1 percent of the fourth graders passed reading, 58.9 percent passed math and 60.3 percent passed writing.

Joe Hunt, school district communications director, said Oak Harbor Middle School has shown improvement over the past five years. For example, 69.8 percent of the seventh graders passed the math assessment last spring. That’s up from a lowly 14.7 percent in 2001.

Hunt said of the 27 similarly-sized school districts in the state, Oak Harbor is one of only seven that is not on a school improvement plan.

There are several areas that concern officials in the lower grades. Math results at Broad View and Hillcrest elementary schools (58.1 percent and 60.8 percent respectively in 2006) have flattened in recent years. To help teachers in those schools, a math coach will help improve the strategies they use to teach students.

The math coach was a factor in improving math scores at Clover Valley Elementary.

With the release of the WASL scores this week, school officials are busy getting the information ready to send out to parents of fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders. They should receive their children’s results by the end of the month. Last spring was the first year grades three, five, six and eight took reading and math sections of the WASL. The school district has preliminary results and officials need time to sift through the tests to ensure the information is accurate.

The WASL results are on the agenda of the upcoming school board meeting, which takes place Monday, Sept. 11, 6:30 p.m. at the school district building at 350 S. Oak Harbor St.