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VIEWPOINT
By Terry Bergeson
The
Washington Assessment of Student Learning or “WASL”
is making a lot of headlines lately. Given each spring to
fourth, seventh and tenth-graders, the WASL measures student
learning in reading, writing, listening and mathematics.
In 2008, all graduating seniors must pass the WASL in order
to graduate from high school. This is a big reason so many
people have WASL on their minds.
Our state is at a critical juncture with education reform.
What should be a discussion about student skills has narrowed
to a focus on test scores. To help get our perspective back,
we should revisit how we got here in the first place.
The WASL and the academic standards it measures are the
direct result of work done by state legislators, teachers,
business and community leaders nearly ten years ago. Washingtonians
decided young people needed stronger knowledge and skills
if they were to be successful citizens of the 21st century.
Businesses were turning away job candidates who could not
accurately complete employment applications. Colleges, universities
and technical schools were spending too much time teaching
students skills they were should have already mastered.
In the end, students were not being prepared to meet the
challenges of an increasingly complex world.
To address this problem, Washington state established clear
standards – the Essential Academic Learning Requirements
– that all students should know and be able to do by
graduation. Schools, in turn, were asked to align their
curriculum with the new standards and help teachers get
the necessary resources to do so. Student progress toward
the standards would be measured by the WASL as well as other
classroom-based tests. However, the WASL alone has captured
the headlines.
The WASL is just one test of student knowledge and skills.
But the growing perception among parents, teachers, administrators
and the general public is that it is the only acceptable
evidence of a child’s educational experience. This
could not be further from the truth. Ironically, people
love the standards, but hate the test that measures student
achievement of these standards. This creates a paradox that
we must resolve in order to improve student learning.
I think we cheat our children if we don’t give them
the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and get feedback
from an objective test. We are also providing students additional
ways to demonstrate skills through in-depth projects of
their choice. This is another new graduation requirement
in 2008.
It’s true: The WASL does demand more of our students.
And according to most people – including Washington
state teachers, parents and students – this is a good
thing. As a result, more students are meeting our higher
expectations. Interestingly enough, some of the greatest
gains are being made in schools that face the greatest economic
and societal challenges. Education reform has created a
dramatic shift from where we were just ten years ago, and
it’s reflected in the greater overall learning and
achievement of our students.
Any change of this magnitude, however, creates new problems
and issues to resolve. I will be the first to admit the
state must do a better job of demystifying the WASL. The
ten year anniversary of education reform, coupled with the
new federal education law, gives us an important opportunity
for mid-course corrections where needed. I assure you that
I will help lead debates and constructive changes to the
system when the WASL moves from a measure of system accountability
to student accountability. That’s why we’ve started
early – so we can work out many of our differences
on the way to that milestone.
We are taking important steps to improve understanding of
the assessment within schools. Teachers, for example, need
more information and training to better understand the test
and the meaning of the scores. To address this problem,
I released 40 percent of the 2001 WASL test questions last
fall, including all writing questions, and will continue
to do so in the future. My office is also expanding the
role teachers play in the development and scoring of the
WASL. Approximately 200 teachers will score portions of
the seventh grade mathematics test this summer, as well
as portions of the fourth, seventh and tenth grade writing.
These teachers will have the opportunity to become leaders
in regional groups of their peers. They will share their
new knowledge in their schools and districts and help us
improve both the WASL and use of test results.
Other issues concerning the WASL must be addressed in the
coming months, including the graduation requirements. “Cramming”
and “drill-and-kill” test prep will not work on
the WASL. Schools that are making gains collaborate across
grade levels, focus on strategic learning and incorporate
the state academic standards into all aspects of the curriculum.
I see this reflected in every improving school I visit.
Terminal Park Elementary in Auburn calls this approach “love
and logic,” meaning they create caring learning environments
with focused, intentional teaching.
Some argue teachers are “teaching to the test,”
to the detriment of student learning. I would suggest that
teaching to our standards is the issue, and it should be
happening everywhere. Keep in mind that before 1993, there
were no statewide standards for learning in our schools.
With the WASL, all children are tested against the same
standards statewide.
In short, we need to change our thinking about testing in
general. When the WASL is too stressful for kids, it’s
because they get a message that their scores reflect their
value as people. This defeats the intention of education
reform. Good assessment is integral to good teaching and
student learning. Without it, thousands of children will
fall through the cracks, failing to realize their personal
dreams and make their contribution as citizens in a free
society.
Dr. Bergeson is the 14th state school superintendent.
She is currently serving her second consecutive term of
office.
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