z60\doc\web\2002\11\goal2.txt FRIENDS: READ THIS AND DO SEND FEEDBACK. THE FEEDBACK WILL NOT BE USED AS NONE OF HAS, BUT BERGESON IS LOOKING FOR MORE $$$$$$$$$$. THIS HAS TO BE A BAD JOKE, BUT IT IS NOT. DON ORLICH From: Jocelyn McCabe To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: Goal 2 Assessments Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 16:07:52 -0800 Dear Education Colleague: As you have likely seen, heard and read in the press, the governor and I have been having some spirited discussions regarding the listening WASL and the Goal 2 assessments in social studies, arts, and health/fitness. We have also been discussing what should be included in the Certificate of Mastery and the reliability of the listening assessment. For your information and consideration, I have written a summary of my current thinking on these issues (see below). We have established a special e-mail address for you to share your comments and feedback. That address is: goal2@ospi.wednet.edu. I appreciate your time and consideration, and look forward to your responses. Sincerely, Terry Bergeson State Superintendent of Public Instruction Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Terry Bergeson Recommendations for the Design and Administration of Assessments in Listening, Arts, Health and Fitness, and Social Studiesprefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" / Introduction Next spring, we will have an opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Education Reform in Washington. As with other types of anniversaries, this milestone provides us an occasion to celebrate the progress we have made and to identify and address opportunities for improvement. In preparation for this anniversary and the upcoming legislative session, the governor and I have had a number of discussions regarding our current assessment system and potential improvements or refinements. Based on these discussions, we agree on the importance of students learning all the skills and knowledge detailed in the Essential Academic Learning Requirements. We further agree on the importance of staying the course with regard to assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. We also agree that there are a number of other outstanding questions and issues about the Certificate of Mastery that must be addressed before it becomes a graduation requirement for the Class of 2008. For example, retakes must be available and guidelines must be developed to fairly address the issues confronting our second language students and students with disabilities. We also must decide whether we, as a state, will fund the development of alternative means for students to demonstrate mastery when they likely have the skills and knowledge, but are unable to demonstrate their proficiency on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). In addition, we think that assessments in the arts, health and fitness, and social studies should not be required to graduate. We have different perspectives, however, on the future of the listening assessment. We are also exploring options for how to assess student knowledge and skills in social studies, the arts, and health and fitness. Listening In my view, the listening assessment is a critical element of the state's education reform efforts. Listening is the first skill children use to learn language. Good listening skills are the foundation of other key communication skills like reading and writing. Scores on the listening assessments have fluctuated from year-to-year in large part because of the small number of questions on the assessments. To address this issue, OSPI redesigned the assessments for this spring's administration. We believe this redesign will make the scores more stable and reliable over time. As a result, we believe this will enable us to retain the assessment in listening as a graduation requirement. Arts and Health/Fitness Currently, assessments in the arts and health and fitness are envisioned and funded as large-scale, standards-based assessments, similar to the reading, writing, listening, mathematics, and science assessments. Students must acquire the knowledge and skills in the arts, health, and fitness, but the assessments do not need to be the same as the initial WASL design. Instead, we can create "classroom based" assessments at the state-level that are administered and scored at the local level. These assessments would: 1) be developed at the state level by teams of teachers, other educators, parents, and community members who go through the standard item development, reviews, and pilots. Scoring rubrics would be created and proficiency standards would be set based on examples of student work; 2) give standards-based feedback regarding what students should know and be able to do at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels; 3) consist of tasks which measure performance of student skills in addition to "paper and pencil" questions; 4) be administered at the discretion of the school district at different times of the year, including at the end of specific courses; 5) be scored locally by teachers either at the classroom, school, district, or regional level using common statewide scoring criteria. Scoring training would be provided to teachers; and 6) be available for voluntary use by school districts beginning in the 2005-06 school year. School districts would be required to administer to all students the assessments beginning in the 2008-09 (middle and high schools) and 2009-10 (elementary schools) school years. Meeting standards on these assessments would not be required to graduate, but students who meet standards on the high school assessments would be eligible for endorsements on their diploma. Requirements for endorsements in each field would include evidence specific to the arts, health, and fitness developed by state-level teams creating the assessments. Such evidence could include dance, music, or theatre performances; portfolios; demonstrated proficiency in fitness or an athletic sport; or obtaining a CPR-First Aid certificate. Prior to the assessments becoming required, districts would not be required to participate in the assessments or to provide endorsements to students. However, for districts that do volunteer to offer endorsements, the number of endorsements awarded each year would be reported to the public. Once the assessments are required, school districts must provide students an opportunity to obtain the endorsements. Social Studies Currently, the social studies assessments also are envisioned and funded as large-scale, standards-based, required assessments, similar to the assessments in reading, writing, listening, mathematics and science. Under current law, the social studies assessments will be available for voluntary use beginning in the 2004-05 school year, and will be required beginning in the 2007-08 school year. At the elementary and middle school levels, I am proposing that we create standards-based classroom assessments. At the high school level, however, I propose a student assessment that consists of two components: a classroom assessment and a "WASL-like" assessment. The administration and scoring of the classroom-based assessments would be similar to the assessments described above for the arts and health/fitness. The WASL-like assessment for high school students would measure a student's understanding of social studies. This standards-based assessment would be centrally scored and OSPI would publish results by school, district, and the state. Meeting the standard on the assessment would not be required for graduation. Comments encouraged In the next two months, I will prepare to submit recommendations to the Legislature regarding these assessments. I do not want to make these decisions, however, without the advice and comment of Washington educators. The work you have been doing to implement our education reform efforts is phenomenal, and it is truly making a difference in how we educate our young people. If you have comments or questions concerning the draft recommendations outlined in this document, please share them with me via e-mail at goal2@ospi.wednet.edu . Please send all comments by November 20, 2002. Thank you for your continued commitment to helping create a world-class education system here in Washington state. I look forward to your thoughts on these issues. Donald C. Orlich SMEEC PO Box 644237 Pullman, WA 99164-4237 (509) 335-4844 FAX (509) 335-7389 Arthur Hu here, 12422 107th pl NE Kirkland WA 98034 425-814-2183 Are you guys kidding? WASL is a total disaster as it is and you want MORE? How are you going to get people to set local standards across every community and then get the state to enforce statewide standards? Who cares if they bear no resemblance to what is required for graduation? The whole point of standards based education is bogus because in an education system where you must education all regardless of ability, there is NO ability level that is appropriate for all students. Average isn't high enough for the highest achievers, and average is too difficult for special education students .What ARE you going to do about students who simply don't have the skills or knowledge of WASL which corresponds to prep for a 4 year university?? Knock off the "stay the course" madness. Please at least give in to the governor a little bit and kill the useless listening test. Debra Brown [DABrown@ospi.wednet.edu] Thank you for your response regarding the Listening WASL and Goal 2 Assessments. Each e-mail will be read and shared with Dr. Bergeson. If you have additional comments on these two assessment issues, please continue to use the e-mail address (goal2@ospi.wednet.edu) for future correspondence. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts with OSPI. -----Original Message-----