October 16, 2000


TO:  ESD Superintendents, School District Superintendents, Assistant 
Superintendents for Curriculum and Instruction, Principals, and Assessment 
Directors 


From:  Dr. Terry Bergeson
RE:  Status Report on the Science WASL Spring 2001 Administration


This memo is to give you a status report on the development and
administration of the wasl science assessment.  On Friday October 6, we 
completed an analysis of the Spring 2000 pilot data for grades 8 and 10.  A 
review was conducted to guide the test development in accordance with the 
Riverside Assessment contract. 


The bottom line is that after reviewing that analysis, I have made the 
decision that we are not ready to administer an operational test in the 
spring of 2001. Our OSPI and Riverside staff will bring together an expert 
group of science assessment leaders to help us revisit the test and item 
specifications and begin additional development of the item pool. That 
meeting will take place next month.  We will then begin test revision and
move on to additional piloting of the test next spring.  The following are 
the background steps that brought us to this point.  


1.  In 1994-95, we began the development of the science essential learning 
requirements with the help of excellent elementary, middle and high school 
science educators, and business and community leaders.  The vision of our 
science standards was the driver for the assessment development. The
science assessment, as in all the other content areas, was designed to 
measure the students' progress on those science standards.


2.  In 97-98, the Commission on Student Learning requested a major revision 
of the science standards to refine and reduce the scope of the science 
essential learnings.


3.  In 98-99, the RFP was issued for the science assessment and a contract 
was awarded to Advanced Systems. The delay caused by the revision of the 
standards drove a decision to run only a limited pilot of the assessment. 
During the summer of 1999, I received a number of calls from science teachers 
and curriculum directors indicating concerns with the difficulty of the items 
and the overall focus of the science assessment.  Therefore, in the fall of 
99, I made the decision to improve the item pool
and run a statewide pilot-a test of the test in science. This was given along 
with the other WASL assessment.  At the high school level we piloted with 
both 10th and 11th graders.


4.  This past summer, student work was scored and data were analyzed by 
Advanced Systems and shared with the science advisory committee. I had great 
concern about the difficulty and the coherence of the overall assessment 
design as it related to our vision of science literacy for all students.  Our 
contract with Advance Systems has expired and we have turned the ongoing
assessment over to Riverside Publishing for the next 5 years.  The Riverside 
staff analyzed the science test and item specifications and the item pool.  
Ospi staff shared this data with the national technical advisory committee 
that oversees all of our assessment technical quality and rigor. The 
technical advisory committee was very concerned that the test did not
have sufficient technical rigor. After receiving this advice, which 
corroborated teachers' concerns from last spring, I have reluctantly 
concluded that we must step back and do a substantive rethinking of our 
science assessment.


My intention is to bring together a high quality group of science advisors to 
build on the positive work that has been done. Their job will be to refine 
the test specifications and develop clear item specifications, and prepare 
for another assessment pilot.  Within the next month I will have more details 
about the specific plan and timeline.  


Finally regarding the 5th grade science assessment, we begin this week with 
the initial development and intend to move forward with limited pilots next 
spring and the statewide pilot in the spring of 2002.


I apologize for the delay and the inconvenience that this may cause you and 
your staff.  Developing good science assessments has been a challenge all 
over the United States.  We initiated our statewide pilot to guide our 
efforts and we would be remiss not to use what we have learned to develop an 
inquiry based assessment that will drive improved science curriculum and
instruction and build rigorous and relevant science understanding and skills 
for our students. Thank you for your patience and your commitment to our 
students."