Seattle Teacher suspended for refusing to give WASL
The controversy surrounding the WASL continues as an instructor at Eckstein Middle School refused to administer the test last week to students. According to the Seattle Times:
Carl Chew, who teaches science, says the WASL is harmful to students, teachers, schools and families. He considers his decision an act of civil disobedience “against something I felt was … morally and ethically corrupt.”
The WASL, he says, needs to be scrapped and replaced “with a gentler, kinder way of finding out what our students know, and helping teachers educate them better.”
Chew has been suspended for 2 weeks without pay. An offer for replacement wages by The Parent Empowerment Network has been redirected to local groups that also oppose this style of testing. (Source article)
While I do not have children yet of my own, my fifth-grade “Little Brother” (through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program) is WASL testing at this time. He doesn’t like to discuss it. What do you think? Was Chew out of line for his protest? Do you think the WASL is a good indicator of what the children are learning these days or is it a big waste of time?
I also do not have children but I applaud Chew for his stance. It is not required that children even take the WASL, a parent has the right to require their child doesn’t take the test. I know another teacher at Eckstein who supplies his students’ parents with the info regarding all that. That’s another cool and safer protest I have seen.
I think that it is very funny that people want all kids to be educated equally, but do not want to set a standard, because then some kids would not meet it.
Setting a 10th grade standard and giving kids 6 opportunities to meet it within 3 years seems pretty reasonable to me.
I think that there is resistance in the schools against WASL partially because teachers don’t understand assessment and how to use it, but also because now people will know where their kids really are.
I think 12th grade students should be able to do 10th grade math. I think that in order for students to become successful adults they need to understand the scientific method, be able to answer story problems, and be able to read and write.
There have always been state-wide tests, I grew up in Seattle and took it myself. And there will always be high stakes tests like bar exams, admissions tests, and tests to become plumbers and electricians. Telling our kids that testing their understanding is "unfair" is setting up them up for a fairly disappointing adulthood.
From what I understand, WASL is an extremely well written test, which parents can even view for themselves. It is mostly NOT multiple choice, and even offers partial points.
I understand that new things can be scary and that the WASL is expensive, but using WASL to inform teaching in classrooms, to find students who are lagging, and to show that there is a standard for graduation is important.
I think it is time we stop protecting poor little poopsie-kins from judgment and admit that if a student cannot do 10th grade math by the time they are in 12th grade, perhaps they should hang out a bit longer and learn it. It’s hard and it sucks, but we need to prepare kids for the challenging world they will be facing in just a few years.
I believe that one of the major reasons for the protest against the WASL is this: the instructors have geared so much of their time teaching the kids how to pass the test that the kids are not learning what they should be learning. If you spend 5 months of a school year working just on material that is covered in the WASL, it doesn’t leave time for much else. Regardless how well written the test is, the kids are missing out on a lot of things. Recess, arts, and other extracurricular activities has been cut back or eliminated to make more time for review/testing. Instead of funding basic materials for the children such as updated maps (a friend of mine saw a map at an elementary school a few months ago that showed the U.S.S.R), the school district has to spend the money on a single test. It’s sad.
I can understand that viewpoint, but the WASL isn’t like the SAT, where there are tricks and strategies. I think for the WASL you just answer the questions and they assign points based upon how correct they are.
The state already has dictated what shall be taught when, maybe WASL enforces it and that is the problem.
I don’t think that I would like anyone to tell me what to teach, but that is probably the inevitable, but sucky part of being a teacher.