Information AboutWasl |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WASHINGTON ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING | |
| washington assessment of student learning | |
| standardized tests in the united states | |
| education in washington | |
| education reformwashington assessment of student learning | |
| standardized tests in the united states | |
| education in washington | |
| education reform | |
| education in washington | |
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The concept of WASL and the 1993 Education Reform legislation was designed originally by the NCEE National Center On Education And Economy led by Marc Tucker whose organization had designed reform efforts of states and districts covering over half of all students nationally by the early 1990s. The Test is used in the state of Washington . All students third through eighth grade in Washington's Public Schools take the WASL test in Reading and Mathematics . In addition to that, fifth and eighth graders take the Science , and fourth and seventh graders take the Writing . Sophomores in high school are tested in all four sections. The WASL is now a graduation requirement starting with the class of 2008 and beyond. The state-level WASL assessments include multiple-choice, short-answer, essay and problem solving tasks. Students with special needs are accommodated in the normal way by the provision of additional time, special equipment or tests in different formats. The WASL appears to have been designed to invert every criticism of standardized tests, but in fact bring new problems. Standarized tests were introduced to measure ability of very large populations at a low cost. WASL is based on the Authentic Assessment movement. Many educators laud such tests for teaching purposes, but they warn they are not practical for large scale assessment, and even the test notes for WASL warn that such scores should not be used for high stakes purposes such as grade promotion or graduation, which is exactly what legislators have passed into law. Multiple choice questions cost only a couple of dollars to score, compared to 30 to 40 dollars for manually scored tests. Machine scored items have only one correct answer, while agreement of barely over 55 percent on a 4 point range is considered to be accurate for the WASL. The Partnership for Learning says that WASL was developed and scored by teachers, but scorers only need a bachelors degree and a few days of training to score these tests. FUTURE EXPANSION The WASL is planned to include tests in other subjects:
WRITING TEST In the writing assessment at Grades 4, 7, and 10 the students must respond to two writing prompts and they have as much time as they need to complete the test. The students may use dictionaries, but no electronic equipment. Grade 4 students complete a narrative and expository writing prompt. Legislation before Washington's government may increase the breadth and scope of the WASL to most other grades, as well as require more extensive testing. ORIGINAL IDEA The NCEE in the late 1980s proposed an education reform model based on "world class standards". Students would be taught according to new process-base "higher order thinking" skills rather be taught facts as has been done traditionally. Public education would become a part of a seamless human resources system where school would lead into work. Rather than passing students through based on age and participation, which many business leaders claimed led to valedictorians who could not read their diplomas, "learning outcomes" would result in earning a Certificate Of Mastery by grade 10 which would effectively replace the high school diploma. Under Outcome Based Education , it was predicted that All Will Succeed . Students who received their CIM would be eligible to continue 2 years of high school in a career track of choice. This was loosely modeled on the European apprenticeship system where only a very few students go on to 4 year colleges, and most students end their formal education by grade 10. The difference in the NCEE model is assuming that most Americans wanted the 10 year education / labor training system from Europe, rather than the 4 year college model which even most Germans opt for today. The original model would also have created a federal standard for all 8 job categories, and effectively require a WASL test for each of those job categories in order to get a high paying job. Since then, every state has moved away from NCEE, now claiming that the AIMS, MCAS, XYZPDQ is a "local" idea, created by leaders from business, educators, and parents who demand a "meaningful diploma". Every state has also struck down the concept of the CIM as being a bad idea, instead adopting the equivalent idea of requiring all 12 graders to have passed a 10th grade test which is designed to fail at least 50% of students at the start, but pass over 95% at the end of "reform". CONTROVERSY The Test is somewhat controversial in Washington state and many parents' groups have protested against it, claiming unreasonable expectations and unusual questions, and also disputing that severely learning disabled students are required to take the test. WASL math has received intense scrutiny. The first set of sample problems published in 1997 for the 4th grade appeared similar to problems out of 7th grade jr high texts, which included skills such as indirect measurement, similar triangles, proportionality, and independent probability, concepts which many parents saw only in college statistics. WASL promotes the new Reform Mathematics which often removes instruction of basic concepts such as carry, average, and long division, but adds median, mode, and drawing labeled pie charts from data covered in statistics or computer science graphics college courses. The ultimate goal is to have 80% passing, which means that the state deliberately intends to prevent at least 20% of students from getting a diploma, yet in 1997 not even the very highest scoring elementary schools met this goal. In otherwise, the passing standard for all schools was set even higher than the best schools. The Partnership For Learning claimed that the 10th grade WASL only requires 8th grade level math, but many samples require mastering algebra, a topic many students will not take until college. Currently, a large percentage of the student body does not pass one or more sections of the WASL, which many claim exerts too much pressure on teachers to focus on teaching the subject in the test rather than the class curriculum. There are also concerns that teachers monitor students too closely during test administration. In May, 2005 , a fourth grader was suspended for five days after declining to answer a Creative Writing question when the teacher noticed he had left the space blank and asked him to fill it out. Leaving the answer blank resulted in a lower test score, which affected the school's overall score. The principal suspended the student, but the superintendent immediately apologized and sought to revoke the suspension. Currently, though, teachers are not allowed to check over student's work at all. Another problem is that the test appears to be flawed in both its construction and its scoring. Many students who read at or above the college level (some in honor programs or Advanced Placement classes) have been given failing scores in the reading portion of the WASL. Other students who have learning disabilities and read several years below grade level have received passing grades on the reading section. Student Learning Plans based on WASL scores in such cases will require college level readers to take remedial reading classes, while offering no support to those reading below grade level. EXTERNAL LINKS COMMERCIAL WASL PREPARATION AND PRACTICE PROGRAMS |
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