Next year’s high school seniors will have have two more chances to take both WASL tests before graduation in addition to state-approved alternatives.

This spring, 5,214 11th-graders passed the reading section and 5,276 passed the writing portion, increasing the overall passage rate of this year’s 11th-graders to 88.2 percent in reading and 90.2 percent in writing, according to the state superintendent of public instruction. Last spring, 87 percent of the class of 2008 had met the reading requirement and 87 percent had met the writing requirement.

More than 62 percent of 11th-graders have passed the math WASL. This will not be a state graduation requirement until 2013. Students who don’t pass the math WASL must earn two credits of math after 10th grade and take the WASL or another state-approved math assessment annually.

High school students who have yet to pass one or more sections of the WASL can register now to take one or more of the tests which will be offered Aug. 11-14. Students can register online at www.k12.wa.us/waslregistration or can call (866) 400-WASL from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.