BREAKING NEWS!

ALERT, JANUARY 21, 2009! Terry Bergeson has left the building. It has been a long, hard road, but Randy Dorn is now in charge. Here is a link: CLICK HERE , to where he describes how he plans to complete his campaign promise and begin the effort to replace the WASL with more reasonable assessments that provide useful information to teachers without punishing children because of their ethnicity or income of their parents. Now is the time to press for dropping the WASL graduation requirements for the class of 2009.

News Politics, WASL

Marion Brady has allowed us to post a recent article we feel is of great importance. He asks us to examine problems we are facing with our current curriculum and to consider our purposes in the face of a changing world. If you want to stretch your brain a bit, read “Back to the Real Basics” .

UPDATE: The most recent post is a paper describing a learning assessment program developed to replace the WASL in Washington State. It can be found by clicking on the link here.

News Curriculum, Instruction, Reform

Here is a song by Tom Chapin that fits my beliefs pretty well.

News Reform, Standards

10-Points in the Development of a Quality Assessment Program

I  support the use of content standards as one component of an accountability system for the students and schools of the State of Washington. I further believe that state required accountability tests, based on these standards, must be practical and useful to parents and educators. These tests are not appropriate, however, as gatekeepers for graduation or promotion from grade-to-grade.

To ensure that assessment programs are valid, reliable and produce practical information that may be used in the development of high quality academic, career, vocational and alternate programs, it is necessary to work with parents, educators, the State Board of Education and interested stakeholders, to implement a new LEARNING ESSENTIALS ASSESSMENT PROGRAM (LEAP) for the State of Washington.

Read more…

Articles Assessment, Reform, WASL

This would be a great time to write a letter to the Editor of your local paper to register
your concerns about the WASL as a graduation requirement. For letter writing tips CLICK HERE.

News

“Standards!” “Accountability!” “Raise the bar!” “Rigor!” “No excuses!”

The slogans and catchwords of would-be school reformers are exploited by politicians, broadcast by radio talk-show hosts, plastered on car bumpers, underlined by newspaper editorialists, elaborated in the popular press, and taken seriously by much of the general public.

They’re also favorite themes of those leaders of business and industry who, in the1980s, began to elbow professional educators aside and work through Congress to take over education reform. There’s little or nothing wrong with American education, these leaders are certain, which can’t be made right by tightening institutional screws. Read more…

Articles Curriculum, Instruction, Reform

Suppose you are in St. Louis, Missouri and you are planning a trip to Vancouver, Washington. Only two maps are available, the one given Lewis and Clark at the start of their journey, or a U.S. highway map from Walmart. Which map would you choose?

Read more…

Opinion Assessment, WASL