http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/5409381p-4887270c.html
Flawed test shouldn’t be allowed to label children
JUANITA DOYON; Spanaway
Last updated:
Re:
“Anecdotes aside, state should stay behind WASL” (Peter Callaghan column,
12-15).
True WASL
believers like Callaghan love to push the propaganda of the state
superintendent. Fortunately, my public school diploma of 1978 means that I
recognize propaganda when I read it and understand the difference between a
test and the standards it purports to measure.
Those of us
fighting WASL believe in high standards for schools and high expectations for
students. We believe so strongly in these things that we refuse to let a flawed
test label our students and narrow their education.
Allow me an
“anecdote.” A few weeks ago, Parent Empowerment Network members discovered that
a WASL practice test posted on the Office of Superintendent of Public
Instruction Web site contained serious errors in 7 out of 42 problems. We have
since learned that this practice test was developed by Dr. Catherine Taylor,
the same Dr. Catherine Taylor who has done validity studies under contract with
OSPI and found WASL to be valid.
Is this an
example of state-level “standards”?
Stories of
biographical incidents – i.e., anecdotes – are the stuff life is made of. When
we reduce our children to data and test scores, we dehumanize education and
create a system of educational triage. If our children don’t pass the WASL,
they are marked for life. Administering the same flawed test over and over
again and expecting different results is not only still a single, high-stakes test, it is insanity.
Originally
published: