Seattle Press on Line - Testing the WASL with a new State Initiative

Teacher Ted

Testing the WASL with a new State Initiative

By Ted Lockery

Jun 13, 2001 -- A couple of Saturdays ago I found myself in the UW's Red Square at the unusual hour of 7:30 a.m. I was on my way to a community forum on the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) test, entitled "Rethinking School Reform."

Shuffling across the brick plaza that drizzly morning, my spirits were lifted when I saw clusters of high school students headed in the same direction. They seemed a bit somber--more than usual. But then again, it was pretty dang early on a Saturday morning--a Saturday we were about to dedicate to a test that had the potential to inflict dire consequences.

One of the ball-capped students held the door for me as we entered Kane Hall. "Wow," I thought, "this guy came prepared." Tightly bundled in his left hand were six perfectly sharpened pencils. He didn't say anything, and neither did I. We paced each other to the second floor, where the forum was to take place. But at the top of the stairs we parted ways. I turned right and followed signs that read "WASL: Rethinking School Reform," while he turned left, in the direction of signs reading "SAT," as in "Scholastic Aptitude Test."

The irony was not lost on me or the other 150 educators, students and parents who attended the forum. Kathryn Jessup, a parent at Orca Elementary and a critic of the WASL, echoed the concern of many in attendance, that WASL-led school reform is undermining local control of schools. "Our schools don't belong to the testing authorities," she said. "They belong to parents and children, and we need to be heard." And while several hundred students across the hall took the SATs, WASL critics took turns articulating their concerns.

Professor Don Orlich of Washington State University, a keynote speaker at the forum, presented his findings based on a review of the 1999 fourth-grade test, that the WASL is developmentally misaligned with students' cognitive development, and is an inappropriate test. He noted that "between 60 and 70 percent of the mathematics test items are clearly beyond the mental capacity of fourth-graders," and that "the WASL writing assessment is a clear illustration of educational malpractice" in expecting Washington fourth-graders to perform outside their developmental capacities--to perform what only one percent of American fourth-graders have been documented as being able to do.

Other forum attendees voiced their opposition to the high-stakes nature of the tests, arguing that it is unfair and unethical to base a student's academic achievement and her or his graduation from high school solely on the WASL test, which they feel is ineffective in assessing student understanding. And others still made the case that the WASL is culturally biased, pointing out that 79 percent of African-American students and 78 percent of Native American students are still not passing it.

When discussion turned to the "Now what?" section of the forum, some very interesting proposals were floated. The first to be mentioned was a constitutional challenge, followed by a student and/or teacher boycott of the WASL. A third suggestion included publishing a blank "opt out" permission slip in local newspapers for families to clip and fill out, excusing their child from having to take the test. A fourth proposal included the unveiling of a statewide initiative requiring all political candidates on Washington state ballots (except the U.S. president and vice-president) to take the 10th-grade WASL prior to filing for office. Their scores would be listed in their declaration and affidavit of candidacy.

The three authors of the initiative, Robert Howard, David Marshak and Doug Selwyn, argue, "Since the 10th-grade WASL measures knowledge and skills required for adult success, the citizens of Washington state want to know whether or not candidates for public office in Washington have mastered the essential learnings measured by the 10th-grade WASL."

When the WASL initiative was announced and presented at the forum, I couldn't help but wonder how my ball-capped friend was doing across the hall, and whether he would support the initiative if he were old enough to vote. In a split-second daydream I pictured him reading over a cardboard-backed initiative petition with his perfectly sharp number 2 pencils.

For more information on the WASL initiative, e-mail WASL@democracy.org. Talk to Teacher Ted at tlockery@cks.ssd.k12.wa.us.

Reader Comments

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Michelle	Dec 11, 2003	Yakima, WA	office manager
I have a daughter in the second grade at Nob Hill Elementary. And I can tell you the only thing I hear from teachers is how they are preparing the kids for the WASL they will be taking in the fourth grade. My daughter is being timed two or three times a day on how fast(not how well) she can read. Not only is she being timed on reading, but also on how fast she can answer mathmatical problems. I have seen sample questions for the WASL, and to be honest some of them confused me. I feel that many children, not only mine are being let down by the public school system. Our local newspaper did an artical because one of the schools in our valley had a 33% of their students pass the WASL...Hello? 33% is terrible.