Last week most of our attention was focused on the thermometer, as record high temperatures left most of us sweltering in the heat. But as we fanned ourselves in an attempt to stay cool, one story passed under the radar.
On Wednesday, the Center on Education Policy released an in-depth report on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning - better known as the WASL.
The headline on the CEP's news release read, "Teachers credit WASL with helping boost students' reasoning and writing skills but want more relevant test data and other changes. "
The CEP claims 1) the test has improved student achievement and 2) that educators in our state would rather improve the test than see it eliminated. Among the changes proposed in the study is a shift to a pre- and post-test assessment to more accurately capture an individual students' growth over the school year.
One criticism I've heard from parents and educators is that the WASL is administered at the end of the year and the results do little to actually help the student taking the test or to measure what that student has learned. For example, by the time my third grade daughter's WASL score is compiled, we will be shopping for the supplies she'll need in the fourth grade. And since the scores don't come back until mid-August, they will have little impact on third graders in the 2009-2010 school year. My daughter will be a fifth grader before her scores will have any impact on third grade curriculum.
Another criticism raised is that the WASL is a standardized test given to students who aren't taught a standardized curriculum. How can it be fair to give students in Omak the same test as students in Tukwila when they are not taught the same subject in the same way? The CEP's report acknowledges the WASL has had a significant impact on curriculum and that frequent changes in state standards is creating stress and confusion resulting in some inconsistency in curriculum and instruction.
You can read the full report at: http://www.cep-dc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=document_ext.showDocumentByID&nodeID=1&DocumentID=284
In the meantime, regardless of the temperature, I will be watching with interest when the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction releases the scores from the 2009 WASL test on August 14th. Stay tuned for that.
3 Comments
Dan said:
I took this test as a sophomore a few years ago, it was so dumbed down that a 6th grader could have passed it. The reason some of my peers did so bad on it, was they just didn't care. They would sit there and text and stuff while only half paying attention to the test. You get 2 more chances to take it after the first time, so why bother even trying? Also, some people just have a problem with being held to a standard. Even though they will be held to certain standards for the rest of their lives.
Dan said:
A few points I forgot to add: I passed all of the tests the first time I took them, and I'm not that intelligent, I had to take algebra twice. Some parents may not like standardized testing because it may make their child look less intelligent than their peers. We need better tests that can more accurately identify what a kid needs to work on. That way the parents will realize that their kid is a little behind, but which areas that the kid needs improvement on.
Sam said:
I also took this test sophmore year and passed. The few complaints I had, was that the math had some trig questions and the science section had many questions relating to chemistry and the periotic table. About 90% of my class had not yet taken either chemistry or trigonometry and the last time we had had to study the periotic table was the beginning of freshman year. Another complaint is that I failed the science section by 5 points (2 questions) but they didn't give a review on the science, so I couldn't possibly work on what questions I had missed and retake it, but instead had a pass/fail mark and a lousy score.
Oh yeah, and that year I was in honors biology.
And, like Dan, I had to take algebra twice and still managed to pass the math section.
I took this test as a sophomore a few years ago, it was so dumbed down that a 6th grader could have passed it. The reason some of my peers did so bad on it, was they just didn't care. They would sit there and text and stuff while only half paying attention to the test. You get 2 more chances to take it after the first time, so why bother even trying? Also, some people just have a problem with being held to a standard. Even though they will be held to certain standards for the rest of their lives.
A few points I forgot to add: I passed all of the tests the first time I took them, and I'm not that intelligent, I had to take algebra twice. Some parents may not like standardized testing because it may make their child look less intelligent than their peers. We need better tests that can more accurately identify what a kid needs to work on. That way the parents will realize that their kid is a little behind, but which areas that the kid needs improvement on.
I also took this test sophmore year and passed. The few complaints I had, was that the math had some trig questions and the science section had many questions relating to chemistry and the periotic table. About 90% of my class had not yet taken either chemistry or trigonometry and the last time we had had to study the periotic table was the beginning of freshman year. Another complaint is that I failed the science section by 5 points (2 questions) but they didn't give a review on the science, so I couldn't possibly work on what questions I had missed and retake it, but instead had a pass/fail mark and a lousy score.
Oh yeah, and that year I was in honors biology.
And, like Dan, I had to take algebra twice and still managed to pass the math section.