Supporters, critics weigh in on recent WASL scores
State Superintendent reports record gains in nearly every area of the WASL
MOSES LAKE — It's 2005 and that means there are only three years until students will be required to pass the Washington State Assessment of Student Learning in order to graduate.
The WASL is a state assessment that tests students' knowledge, skills and understanding through a combination of multiple-choice, short answer, essays and problem solving tasks.
Starting with the class of 2008, students will be required to pass the WASL in order to graduate.
In a statement released Aug. 31, Washington State Superintendent Terry Bergeson hailed the 2004-2005 WASL test scores as hitting record levels in nearly every area of the test, with 80 percent of fourth-grade students showing their ability to read, and scores above 65 percent in reading for seventh and 10th-grades across the state.
In the Moses Lake School District, 2004 scores show the highest increases in fourth-grade reading at 86.7 percent, compared to 78.1 percent in 2003, and seventh-grade math at 51.3 percent for 2004, compared to 42.9 percent in 2003.
"It obviously demonstrates a lot of teamwork," said Steve Chestnut, superintendent with the MLSD.
While the district is celebrating its gains, Chestnut emphasized that students and staff still have a long way to go until 2008 to get those students not meeting the standard to catch up.
Michelle Price, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the MLSD, said the district attributes those gains to incorporating the same skills needed to succeed on the WASL into everyday classroom curriculum.
Instead of having students check boxes or give one-word responses, school instruction is focusing more on written expression and verbal explanations of an answer, Price said.
Increased scores, however, continue to keep critics of the WASL concerned as to whether the test is the best way to test students skill level and understanding of subject areas.
Those like Shelley Anderson, executive board member of the Parent Empowerment Network and member of Mothers Against WASL, who is from the Spokane area, has a son who failed the WASL test three times, but scored normal to high on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS).
ITBS is one assessment the state of Washington uses to test basic skill areas such as reading, mathematics and language arts by using a series of multiple choice questions. ITBS in Washington is administered to students in third and sixth-grades.
"How, if I can't get a 3.0 student like my oldest son who passes the ITBS, to pass the WASL, how is an ESL (English as a Second Language) student or dyslexic or test anxiety student going to do?" Anderson said.
One of Anderson's problems with WASL and why she believes her son failed the test, is because WASL tests thought processes rather than what a student knows.
"We need to have accountability, but we need to have reasonable accountability," she said.
Alternatives to the WASL are being discussed at the state level, but are not yet available to students this year, Price said.
Those alternatives would include combining a student's grade point average and WASL score and a performance-based assessment somewhat like a student portfolio. The alternatives require prior approval by the Legislature.
"This gives those kids (an opportunity) to show what they know in another way," Price said. "The alternatives aren't going to be any easier, but they are going to be different."
In the MLSD, a few parents in the past have opted to take their students out of the WASL test, but Price reminds them that they will still have to pass it to graduate.
"The WASL is the high stakes ticket at the end for graduation and we do have to pay attention to it," Price said.
Adamant opposers of WASL like Anderson and other members of MAW believe the test is not a valid assessment of student achievement and that the state is not giving parents ample notice to view their student's test scores.
"We are putting too many kids at risk," Anderson said.