Even after yesterday's very good editorial about the value of educational testing, the Seattle Times today has a particularly dumb article about Washington's standardized WASL test, with an even dumber headline: Limited English dooms kids on WASL:
For months some state educators have complained that the federal No Child Left Behind Act sets unreasonable standards for immigrants who are just learning English. Now, state officials think they have the data to back up their concerns...Those results, OSPI officials said, underscore their concern that it's unrealistic to think new immigrants can pass the high-stakes testAccording to the Washington State Board of Education the WASL tests
were not designed to be a grading tool. They are intended to measure where students are learning and to help teachers improve instruction about where their students may need to help.So of course immigrants should take the WASL, even if it is understood that some will not score very highly during their first years in the US. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The goal is for all immigrant children to perform at near-native proficiency in English as quickly as possible. If we don't measure their performance, how else will we know how well the schools are doing at achieving that goal?
As I read the article, it sounds like the educrats' concerns are primarily about avoiding accountability for delivering actual results. They conflate "new immigrants" with "limited English speakers", many of whom have presumably languished in public schools for years without adequate expectations or instruction to learn English.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at December 24, 2003 12:37 PMIf the elite Educrats are squealing over the "No Child Left Behind Act "and the WASL tests, I know these two efforts are, on balance, something to be embraced and cheered. I'm utterly confused over the resistance to standards and accountability. If the WASL adequately tests the ability of students to master basic topics (I have no doubt it succeeds) and sizable numbers of students are failing, attacking the test as the reason for poor student performance is bewildering. How the teaching profession can continue to graduate students from high school that are functionally illiterate without a serious look in mirror turns education on it's head.
Posted by: Gary B on December 25, 2003 09:06 PMGary B. meant to say "its head, not "it's head." the word is a possessive pronoun, not a contraction.
Posted by: John Archer on December 25, 2003 10:19 PMJust another product of the Seattle School system. Enjoy the holiday John.
Posted by: Gary B on December 26, 2003 12:53 PM