Published: Sunday, February 8, 2009
New schools chief wastes little time in wrestling with WASL
Some aren't pleased with speed or direction
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Dan Bates / The Herald
Randy Dorn, shown holding his iPod outside the old Capitol building in Olympia, has already stirred up controversy after just weeks as schools chief.
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Dan Bates / The Herald
The state's new superintendent of public instruction, Randy Dorn, acted quickly to change the WASL exams.
OLYMPIA -- Every morning as he drives to work, Randy Dorn listens to Aretha Franklin belt out "Respect," Billy Ocean sing "When the Going Gets Tough" and "Gonna Fly Now," the theme from "Rocky."
Then he bounds up the steps to the old Capitol building and sets to work changing education in Washington.
Dorn has been in office for less than a month, and already he's announced plans to trash the state's most prominent and controversial test: the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. He's irked some legislators, who accuse him of being arrogant for announcing the changes without formally consulting them. And he's won plenty of applause from teachers and parents sick of the WASL and ready for change.
In Snohomish County, where Dorn won 56 percent of the vote, hopes are especially high for the former rural principal turned legislator, then union leader and now state superintendent of public instruction.
"The biggest thing is change," said Kim Mead, president of the Everett teachers union. "So far he's willing to listen to and talk with us and has a better sense of what educators need in the classroom."
Riding on a wave of discontent over the WASL, Dorn, 55, unseated 12-year-incumbent Terry Bergeson in November, winning 52 percent of the vote statewide. The position pays $121,618 a year.
As a Democratic legislator in 1993, the Eatonville man helped write the bill that created the WASL. He envisioned a test that would raise student achievement and give colleges and employers reassurance that students had the skills needed for future success.
He accuses Bergeson of moving the test away from those original goals by developing an assessment that can take weeks to administer and months to get results.
Dorn took his election as a mandate from voters to change the test.
He wasted no time.
He didn't push for a bill to be introduced. He didn't hold a formal meeting with lawmakers to run ideas by them.
He called a press conference.
A week after he took office on Jan. 14, he rolled out plans for a new statewide assessment.
"I don't think it should be a surprise to people that if I promised something, we'll do it," Dorn said, sitting in his new office on a sunny January afternoon. "The Legislature ... we'll work together fine. We'll have our bumps and bruises.
The move surprised both educators and lawmakers, who knew Dorn wanted to change the test, but didn't realize he would take action so quickly.
"He just got very excited about the things that he heard," said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, chairwoman of the Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee. "He wanted to jump in and do it. That's really what he was determined to do -- what he knew people wanted. I think he got a little ahead of some of the legislators on that. It's a brand new relationship. We all have to learn how to work together and I think we have -- or we're getting to."
Dorn's new tests are scheduled to land on student desks in spring 2010. By 2012, all students should be taking the tests on computers. The computerized tests are expected to be graded more quickly than the pencil and paper WASLs – results should be available two weeks later.
Dorn's exams includes questions similar to those on the reading, writing, math and science WASL tests, but are scheduled to be shorter, have fewer long answer questions and more fill-in-the-blank questions.
He wants to call the test for younger students Measurements of Student Progress and eliminate the notion that exams are high stakes.
The high school tests would be called the High School Proficiency Exams. Despite pressure from the state teachers union to drop testing as a graduation requirement, Dorn insists he'll continue requiring seniors to pass the reading and writing tests or an alternative to graduate.
He bristles at the suggestion that his new tests will be easier than the WASL, or that they're the same tests with different names.
"We're using parts of it," he said. "We're just making it more efficient. We're using the good work that's been done, but it got out of control, and we're bringing it back to reality."
Dorn plans to postpone the date students need to pass the math portion of the test an extra year, to 2014. He says he wants the science test to eventually be a graduation requirement, but he believes schools need to change the way they teach science and put more emphasis on the subject before the requirement goes into place.
Business leaders who have backed the WASL aren't pleased with Dorn's move to delay the math and science requirements.
Unless those tests are required to graduate, schools won't emphasize math and science and kids will graduate unable to pass college courses or hold family wage jobs, said Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable, a nonprofit group representing chief executives of Washington companies.
Dorn has strayed from the recommendations of some prominent educators by saying he doesn't believe all Washington students need to take algebra II to graduate.
Those comments, paired with the math and science delays are "radically out of step" with what schools in other parts of the world are doing, Mullin said.
"It sends a very disturbing message about our state's understanding of the world we currently live in," he said. "It will put our students at a huge disadvantage relative to students from other states and countries as they compete for family-wage jobs."
Dorn, a former social studies teacher, believes that kids need math, but not necessarily algebra II. He wants to put more focus on vocational programs, such as robotics, business and welding, that may incorporate math with job skills.
He also plans to work with lawmakers in Olympia and Washington, D.C., to secure more funding for education and to eliminate portions of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Developed by former President George W. Bush, the law penalizes low-income schools where students don't perform well on standardized tests. Dorn said requiring special education students to take the tests is "probably the biggest criminal thing we do."
He said he understands that schools are hurting. The Edmonds and Marysville school boards are considering closing schools and most districts in Snohomish County expect to cut back spending next year.
Although lawmakers and Gov. Chris Gregoire have made it clear that they need to cut $5.7 billion from the next state budget, Dorn said he'll fight to maintain school funding.
"We're in tough economic times, but the idea is you position yourself for the future to make a big difference when the money does come in," he said.
Everett mom Cathy Phipps, a regional PTA leader, said she is optimistic that Dorn will listen to parents and do his best to help kids. She appreciates visits he's made to PTA branches in other parts of the state and hopes he'll keep his door open.
"We're glad he has the experience as an educator and we hope he understands he can work through the school and (develop) positive working relationships with all the stakeholders," she said.
In the coming weeks, Dorn will have to develop and defend his new tests and fight to save education money in the state's shrinking budget.
"If he can do those two he would have done more as superintendent of public instruction than anyone thought was possible," said Jerry Jenkins, superintendent of the educational service district that serves several Snohomish County school districts.
But those two goals are major, and it's way to early to tell if Dorn will rise to the challenge, like Rocky, or drive away in his Prius singing The Beatles' "Help!" -- another song on his iPod's short play list.
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
Then he bounds up the steps to the old Capitol building and sets to work changing education in Washington.
Dorn has been in office for less than a month, and already he's announced plans to trash the state's most prominent and controversial test: the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. He's irked some legislators, who accuse him of being arrogant for announcing the changes without formally consulting them. And he's won plenty of applause from teachers and parents sick of the WASL and ready for change.
In Snohomish County, where Dorn won 56 percent of the vote, hopes are especially high for the former rural principal turned legislator, then union leader and now state superintendent of public instruction.
"The biggest thing is change," said Kim Mead, president of the Everett teachers union. "So far he's willing to listen to and talk with us and has a better sense of what educators need in the classroom."
Riding on a wave of discontent over the WASL, Dorn, 55, unseated 12-year-incumbent Terry Bergeson in November, winning 52 percent of the vote statewide. The position pays $121,618 a year.
As a Democratic legislator in 1993, the Eatonville man helped write the bill that created the WASL. He envisioned a test that would raise student achievement and give colleges and employers reassurance that students had the skills needed for future success.
He accuses Bergeson of moving the test away from those original goals by developing an assessment that can take weeks to administer and months to get results.
Dorn took his election as a mandate from voters to change the test.
He wasted no time.
He didn't push for a bill to be introduced. He didn't hold a formal meeting with lawmakers to run ideas by them.
He called a press conference.
A week after he took office on Jan. 14, he rolled out plans for a new statewide assessment.
"I don't think it should be a surprise to people that if I promised something, we'll do it," Dorn said, sitting in his new office on a sunny January afternoon. "The Legislature ... we'll work together fine. We'll have our bumps and bruises.
The move surprised both educators and lawmakers, who knew Dorn wanted to change the test, but didn't realize he would take action so quickly.
"He just got very excited about the things that he heard," said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, chairwoman of the Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee. "He wanted to jump in and do it. That's really what he was determined to do -- what he knew people wanted. I think he got a little ahead of some of the legislators on that. It's a brand new relationship. We all have to learn how to work together and I think we have -- or we're getting to."
Dorn's new tests are scheduled to land on student desks in spring 2010. By 2012, all students should be taking the tests on computers. The computerized tests are expected to be graded more quickly than the pencil and paper WASLs – results should be available two weeks later.
Dorn's exams includes questions similar to those on the reading, writing, math and science WASL tests, but are scheduled to be shorter, have fewer long answer questions and more fill-in-the-blank questions.
He wants to call the test for younger students Measurements of Student Progress and eliminate the notion that exams are high stakes.
The high school tests would be called the High School Proficiency Exams. Despite pressure from the state teachers union to drop testing as a graduation requirement, Dorn insists he'll continue requiring seniors to pass the reading and writing tests or an alternative to graduate.
He bristles at the suggestion that his new tests will be easier than the WASL, or that they're the same tests with different names.
"We're using parts of it," he said. "We're just making it more efficient. We're using the good work that's been done, but it got out of control, and we're bringing it back to reality."
Dorn plans to postpone the date students need to pass the math portion of the test an extra year, to 2014. He says he wants the science test to eventually be a graduation requirement, but he believes schools need to change the way they teach science and put more emphasis on the subject before the requirement goes into place.
Business leaders who have backed the WASL aren't pleased with Dorn's move to delay the math and science requirements.
Unless those tests are required to graduate, schools won't emphasize math and science and kids will graduate unable to pass college courses or hold family wage jobs, said Steve Mullin, president of the Washington Roundtable, a nonprofit group representing chief executives of Washington companies.
Dorn has strayed from the recommendations of some prominent educators by saying he doesn't believe all Washington students need to take algebra II to graduate.
Those comments, paired with the math and science delays are "radically out of step" with what schools in other parts of the world are doing, Mullin said.
"It sends a very disturbing message about our state's understanding of the world we currently live in," he said. "It will put our students at a huge disadvantage relative to students from other states and countries as they compete for family-wage jobs."
Dorn, a former social studies teacher, believes that kids need math, but not necessarily algebra II. He wants to put more focus on vocational programs, such as robotics, business and welding, that may incorporate math with job skills.
He also plans to work with lawmakers in Olympia and Washington, D.C., to secure more funding for education and to eliminate portions of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Developed by former President George W. Bush, the law penalizes low-income schools where students don't perform well on standardized tests. Dorn said requiring special education students to take the tests is "probably the biggest criminal thing we do."
He said he understands that schools are hurting. The Edmonds and Marysville school boards are considering closing schools and most districts in Snohomish County expect to cut back spending next year.
Although lawmakers and Gov. Chris Gregoire have made it clear that they need to cut $5.7 billion from the next state budget, Dorn said he'll fight to maintain school funding.
"We're in tough economic times, but the idea is you position yourself for the future to make a big difference when the money does come in," he said.
Everett mom Cathy Phipps, a regional PTA leader, said she is optimistic that Dorn will listen to parents and do his best to help kids. She appreciates visits he's made to PTA branches in other parts of the state and hopes he'll keep his door open.
"We're glad he has the experience as an educator and we hope he understands he can work through the school and (develop) positive working relationships with all the stakeholders," she said.
In the coming weeks, Dorn will have to develop and defend his new tests and fight to save education money in the state's shrinking budget.
"If he can do those two he would have done more as superintendent of public instruction than anyone thought was possible," said Jerry Jenkins, superintendent of the educational service district that serves several Snohomish County school districts.
But those two goals are major, and it's way to early to tell if Dorn will rise to the challenge, like Rocky, or drive away in his Prius singing The Beatles' "Help!" -- another song on his iPod's short play list.
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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