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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009 Washington state math test is tough, study finds By Donna Gordon Blankinship Associated Press SEATTLE — Washington’s statewide math tests appear to be tougher than those in most other states, a national study revealed today. The study compares the rigor of the tests states use to judge whether schools are meeting the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Law. The individual state tests — The Washington Assessment of Student Learning in Washington state — also were compared to the national assessment known as the nation’s report card. “It’s not any great revelation to us,” said Joe Willhoft, assistant state superintendent for assessment and student information. “It is comforting to know that we have assessments that have high expectations of our students.” The national study does not compare the achievement of students on the different tests, but it draws some interesting comparisons. For example, because the gap between state proficiency standards vary so widely, a student could pass his own state’s exam but fall below the line in a state with more challenging standards. “It brings some level of context and understanding to interpreting our test scores,” Willhoft said. He said the report offers a “common yard stick” for comparing a state’s reading and math assessments. The study is a repeat of one completed using the 2005 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP is given to a sampling of eighth- and fourth-grade students in each state. Since every state sets its own academic standards and most have created their own tests to judge whether schools are meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind, federal education officials became concerned that the standards are not judging students equally across the nation. This periodic report is a result of those concerns. Earlier this month, results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress for math revealed that once again Washington eighth- and fourth-graders are both doing better than the national average. On a 500-point scale, fourth-graders in Washington on average scored 242 in 2009, compared to the national average score of 240. Washington eighth-graders on average scored 289, compared to the national average of 283. The study released today showed Washington’s math standards, as tested until this academic year by the WASL, are among the most rigorous five state tests in the nation for both fourth- and eighth-grades. In reading, Washington’s standards as tested by the WASL are near the top of states for eighth-grade and just above the middle for fourth-grade. On a 500-point scale, fourth-graders in Washington on average scored 224 in 2007, which is the most recent year the reading scores are available. The national average for fourth grade was 220. Eighth-graders in Washington averaged 265 on the 2007 reading test, compared to the national average of 261. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out We may be 5th in test rigor now....but so what? Whether you are a fan or critic of the current math WASL, its level of rigor is somewhat a moot point when held up alongside its obsolescence. According to OSPI, the last math WASL has been given, and new state-level math tests will replace it next year: the "Measurements of Student Progress" and the high-school exam the "High School Proficiency Exams." Since these comparisons of rigor are apparently made on test results' comparisons, we've no idea what the new tests' level of rigor will be compared to the current WASL or NAEP. The NAEP, or an expanded form of it, could be the next WA State math exam in a few years. At least 48 of the nation's Governors have already approved a draft set of standards upon which such a national level exam would be based. Those standards are here: http://www.corestandards.org/ But before we have an expanded NAEP-like exam for all students to take each year, we expect to have new tests to replace the WASL in 2010 in WA. Superintendent Dorn's goals are that the new exams be better, shorter, and less expensive. I know what shorter and less expensive means. How we define "better" I am not yet sure about. If WA state math test results immediately go up significantly on the new WA exams next year, why? Did students all-of-sudden get smarter? Or, are the tests simply a bit less rigorous? In any case, how will Dorn and local school districts spin the results, whether they go up or down? What is the chance they will they wait until comparisons of the new exams' results to the NAEP can be made before they make any claims that will at least hold some water? William Burnett | Oct 30, 2009 5:36 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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