Over the gorgeous weekend, the Washington State PTA staged its annual conference near SeaTac airport. One of the first sessions of the conference was a panel discussion on standards and assessment featuring Joe Willhoft (Assistant State Superintendent for Assessment and Student Information, OSPI), Maureen Ramos (Washington Education Association, Spokane), Pat Steinburg (Special Education Coalition), Thelma Jackson (Washington Alliance of Black School Educators), Lester Krupp (a high school English teacher from Yelm) and David Fisher (former chair of the State Academic Achievement and Accountability Commission).
The speakers addressed the WASL’s role as an assessment tool; its impact on instruction and student achievement, especially for special education students, English language learners and those from diverse cultures and lower socio-economic backgrounds; the financial impact of the WASL on the K-12 system; and proposed changes to improve the state’s assessment program.
The audience turn-out for the session was modest, which was unfortunate because the panel discussion provided a number of important insights on standards and assessment. The panelists each clearly brought a different perspective to the discussion, and there were many points of disagreement on priorities and policy implications for assessment. Despite these differences, a few common themes emerged. One area of consensus was especially important: All of the panelists acknowledged that assessment results should be used to help identify where our schools need to do a better job in helping students develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.
In other words, we can’t allow the controversy that has raged over the WASL to continue distracting policymakers, the media, educators and parents from the critical issue of preparing students for the rigors of post-secondary education and training, the workplace and citizenship in the 21st century.
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