North Olympic Peninsula school superintendents are supportive of a proposal to replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, but say they want to know more.
“I’m optimistic and I’m cautious,” said Gary Cohn, Port Angeles School District superintendent.
State Superintendent Randy Dorn unveiled his proposal for a new state assessment system Wednesday.
The testing system — that needs approval from the state Legislature and governor — would be called the Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program.
Dorn — who was sworn in as the state’s 15th superintendent of public instruction on Jan. 13 — said the testing system would begin in 2010.
It would require computer-delivered tests to be implemented statewide by 2012.
Measurement of Student Progress tests would be offered twice a year for grades 3 through 8, and High School Proficiency Exams would be shorter and contain significantly fewer extended-answer questions.
The goals of the proposed state assessment system are to:
• Shorten the tests.
• Reduce the amount of time students spend on written responses.
• Return scores more quickly.
• Introduce statewide computer testing.
• Provide more information on students’ strengths and weaknesses to teachers and families.
• Minimize costs.
“I think I would be supportive,” said Tom Opstad, Port Townsend School District superintendent.
“It depends on the technology needed to do it.”
He said one of the things he said school district superintendents have to consider is: “Do you have enough technology to test all of your students in grades 3 to 8 electronically?”
Opstad said what he liked most about the proposal is that test results would come back sooner, and the testing itself would take up less time.
“It is something that teachers, administrators and students would appreciate,” he said.
Cohn, who is in Olympia for a state Professional Educator Standards Board meeting, said he would like to speak with Dorn about his proposal today, after Dorn gives a presentation on the topic.
“I’m looking forward to further information,” he said.
“It is not something that you can plumb the debts in one press release.”
Sequim School District Superintendent Bill Bentley said the Measurement of Student Progress tests would fit in well with a test the school district already offers to elementary students, known as Measures of Academic Performance.
“It measures student growth form year to year,” he said.
Bentley said the WASL doesn’t do as good of a job in completing that goal.
“We need to know where kids start to know how much progress students actually make,” he said.
Sequim schools, Helen Haller Elementary School and Sequim Middle School, were placed by the state on the “schools needing improvement” list for not meeting certain WASL requirements during the 2007 to 2008 school year.
Bentley said he doesn’t expect that a switch to a different testing system would keep schools from being on that list.
“There is still going to be similar kinds of numbers of schools that find themselves in school improvement and beyond in terms of sanctions,” he said.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandates that schools meet state standardized testing standards every year.
If standards are not met for two consecutive years, schools are placed on the needing improvement list.
Being on the list requires the schools to begin improvement steps that range from allowing students to transfer to other schools to replacing school staff members.
They are taken off the list if they meet the criteria for two consecutive years.
After not meeting criteria in the 2007 to 2008 academic year, the schools in Sequim must offer students the choice of transferring to other schools.
Crescent School District Superintendent Tom Anderson said one part of the proposal that he is in favor of is that it would focus more on what is taught during one year rather than an accumulation of what students know by a certain grade level.
This, he said, would allow teachers to better prepare students for the test.
“Math and science have been mystery tests in the past for most teachers,” he said.
Like Opstad, Anderson said he is concerned about a mandate to use computer testing by 2012.
“He [Dorn] is expecting every school to be equipped with computer technology,” he said.
“I’m not sure that that is going to be true.”
Cape Flattery School District interim Superintendent Kandy Ritter also said a reduction in time needed for testing would be a benefit.
“The result of that would be less interruption in day-to-day instruction time,” she said.
Cape Flattery also had a school on the list of those needing improvement for the 2007 to 2008 school year, Neah Bay Junior/Senior High School.
The school is required to fund supplemental services, such as tutoring to students who are struggling for being on the list for about three years.
“Our school improvement plan is addressing our strengths and weaknesses,” she said.
“We are working toward aligning all of our curriculum in the school district with the state standards.”
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
