Kathy Wilson’s desire to eliminate the WASL misses the point of education reform over the last 10 years (“WASL requirements: It’s a flawed test and should be tossed,” Monday). It is the system, not the test. The framers plotted a strategy to measure the success of the education system. Included in that model was the essential learning (EALRs) and the accountability measure (WASL). Since then, the movement has been mutated to include a measure of the success of the student’s content education – the so-called Certificate of Mastery.
I support the strategy of measuring the system to ascertain if it is performing the state of Washington’s constitutional requirement – “it is the paramount duty to educate …” The accountability result (WASL) to date shows that the education system is falling short in the education of its citizenry. Yes, progress is being made.
A recent study commissioned by the State Board of Education determined there are differences in the understanding, awareness and readiness of our state’s schools to support the Certificate of Mastery as a graduation requirement. Until the system has been determined to be ready, students should be held accountable for demonstrating their learning. Our students should not bear the burden of accountability of a system with a mandatory graduation requirement.
In short, our efforts should not be to rid the system of its accountability – a performance-based vs. a norm-referenced test. Rather, it should be to press the system (school boards, administrators, teachers, etc.) to make the changes necessary to ensure every child receives an equitable opportunity to learn, as called for in our Constitution.
Lynnwood
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