Mr. Carl Chew, a middle level teacher in the Seattle Public Schools, has been sternly criticized by several editorial writers for his act of civil disobedience by refusing to do the Washington Assessment of Student Learning--WASL.
Let me be the first to nominate Mr. Carl Chew for Washington's Teacher of the Year. He had the courage to refuse to administer the WASL because of all it failings and the very apparent damage it does to children. The WASL provides NO useful feedback to students, parents, or teachers. All that is reported is a grade-1 or 2, fail; 3 or 4 pass. To date the total cost of administering and grading the WASL exceeds one billion dollars. (Data furnished on request to writer.)
The WASL has been documented to have an adverse effect on children's psyche. At a recent dinner party a mother noted that her fourth grade daughter came home and said, "Mother, if I flunk the WASL will you still love me?" This is not an isolated case. On May 11, 2000, The Spokesman-Review showed a figure of the WASL monster drawn by a fourth grader with the caption that it "eats children and gets stronger from their fear." You do not have to be a child psychologist to interpret those statements as being damaging.
And in Whitman County, a teacher was called on the carpet by his principal and was threatened that he would be fired. Why? This teacher distributed information to other teachers and administrators to take a stand against the WASL. Ultimately The Northwest Professional Educators came to his rescue for exercising his First Amendment Rights. Several groups, including representatives from the Parent Empowerment Network and myself were invited to address the school board and other patrons about the WASL. The local district superintendent defused the situation.
There are at least four major technical problems with the WASL.
1. There is a large error of measurement. Thousands of students may fail or pass due to the type of technical measurements used to score the WASL.
2. The WASL is not valid. It is used to measure four attributes: student achievement, school accountability, state standards, and NCLB requirements. A valid test measures only one attribute.
3. Reliability of scoring shows that there have been numerous cases of scorer errors. The number of poorly scored tests could exceed thousands!
4. Many of the tests require reading at a very proficient level. Students who are English Language Learners and those in Special Education all have very significantly higher failure rates when measured against their cohort of WASL takers.
A dissertation completed, by a public school superintendent, Michael Mack, at WSU showed five important conclusions regarding the opinions of parents about the WASL. A majority of the parents do not believe that high-stakes testing: (1) is a fair way to determine a student's progress in school, (2) has improved their students' learning, (3) accurately reflects their students abilities, and (4) should be used to determine if a student will graduate from high school. Finally, a majority of parents believe that students should be able to retake high-stakes tests until students receive a passing score.
The current State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Governor, the State Board of Education and the Legislature have all politely (or is it politically) ignored these issues. However, in the May 13th Spokesman-Review, Terry Bergeson, current SPI, stated: "When you stand for something you believe in, you make enemies."
Let us review the basis for that belief. In her own doctoral dissertation, completed at The University of Washington, the very psychological foundations on which the WASL is constructed were rejected in 80 percent of her cases. Her own "failed belief" is driving the WASL.
Hopefully, 50,000 other teachers will join Carl Chew's civil disobedience in refusing to administer an instrument of child abuse. Dump the WASL!
Donald C. Orlich
435 SE Crestview Street
Pullman, WA 99163
(509) 334-4214
Author of School Reform: The Great American Brain Robbery, 2006.