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School districts throughout Washington state are waiting to see what the future holds for education’s most publicized acronym.
The WASL – Washington Assessment of Student Learning – may well be on its way out, according to new Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, who defeated three-term superintendent Terry Bergeson, a WASL advocate, in the November general election. A longtime critic of the mandatory test, Dorn has said he wants the WASL replaced by 2010 with a more efficient, less costly assessment that would be less of an intrusion on the academic routine.
While many educators support the proposed changes, there still is some uncertainty about when and how the transition will take place. A bill, containing many tenants similar to Dorn’s plan, was submitted to the state Legislature last month.
“I do agree with shortening the test,” said Kerri Lunstroth, a member of the East Valley School District board of directors. “I think it’s great that some changes may be made, I just don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Students will still have to meet the federal requirements.”
The federal requirements pertain to the No Child Left Behind legislation passed in 2001 emphasizing increased accountability in schools. With both Republican and Democratic support, the law increased standards in primary and secondary schools, placed reading at a higher priority and established quantifiable goals, requiring schools to develop tests to assess comprehension in areas such as reading, writing, math and science.
Under Dorn’s proposal, Washington high school students would still have to pass an assessment before graduating from high school. Under the current system, high school students take the test as sophomores. Changes would take place in the administration of the test which would be taken on a computer instead of paper and reduce the essay portion from 40 percent to 25 percent. Test results would also be available sooner under the new approach.
“We welcome a state assessment system that is timely, less expensive and provides quality feedback to teachers regarding student learning,” said Central Valley Superintendent Ben Small. “Whatever assessment system is in place, Central Valley School District teachers will continue working to provide a quality education to ensure every child is learning the high standards we set for our students.”
Dorn is also hoping to cut back on the time element of the WASL, decreasing the testing span from two weeks to one week in high school and down to less than three days in elementary school.
In Idaho and Oregon, assessment tests required by NCLB take less time than the WASL. While both states established an approach to directly align with the federal legislation, Washington readjusted the WASL, in place since 1992, to meet NCLB mandates, a mistake according to administrators like East Valley Superintendent John Glenewinkel.
“The theory behind the WASL was extremely sound,” he said. “It wasn’t about the failure of students.”
Glenewinkel said the WASL continues to provide “valuable criteria for improving teaching and learning” and added that Dorn should “talk to the people on the front lines” about potential changes to the test.
“I know (Dorn) has talked to us about this issue, I just hope he listens to us,” Glenewinkel said.
Sergio Hernandez, superintendent of the Freeman School District, was one of a number of local administrators to attend an ESD 101 meeting in Spokane on Thursday (after presstime) at which Deputy Superintendent Alan Burke addressed concerns associated with the WASL. Hernandez said he hoped changes to the test would include more diagnostic information addressing specific areas where students needed to improve.
“The goal is to make this test less costly and more efficient,” Hernandez said.
Meanwhile, high school students throughout the state will still be required to pass current WASL requirements before receiving their diplomas in 2009. Melanie Rose, a spokeswoman with the Central Valley School District, said, in spite all the talk of change, the emphasis is on adhering to the guidelines already in place.
“We’ve certainly been getting a lot of questions about this,” Rose said. “Some think that students don’t have to take the WASL this year. It’s just important that we stay the course. Nothing has changed yet.”
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By
Craig Howard
