WASL Bills Worry Science Teachers

Mar 27, 01:11 PM

Current Headlines: By Debby Abe, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

Mar. 27--Many of the state's science teachers oppose legislative proposals to scrap the 10th-grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning science exam, which covers life, earth and physical sciences, and replace it with a single biology test.

Changing the science WASL is among several provisions in similar House and Senate bills that would overhaul the state's high school testing system and graduation requirements.

The Washington Science Teachers Association is urging its 800 members to tell legislators to reject a biology-only exam and to study alternatives to the WASL before switching to "end-of-course" assessments that are generally taken after a class in the tested subject.

"Students need to be proficient in all sciences to prepare them for the world they're going to live and work in," said association President Tom Archer.

While students still would be required to take at least two years of science to graduate, some science teachers fear schools would emphasize biology at the expense of other scientific disciplines.

It's called the "WYTIWYG" effect -- What You Test is What You Get, said Roy Beven, science assessment manager for the state schools superintendent's office.

"That's why the state decided to have standards equally in life science, earth science and physical science, and make sure the (WASL) exam is equal in those areas," Beven said.

State Rep. Pat Sullivan, sponsor of the House version of the legislation, said the bill isn't intended to limit science instruction to biology alone, and that the state could eventually test other scientific disciplines.

He noted other states already use "end-of-course" biology tests as their high school graduation exam and to meet federal student-achievement requirements.

"When 50 percent of kids aren't graduating," Sullivan said, "we'll have to make some adjustments."

He's talking about this year's 11th-graders -- the Class of 2008 -- the first who must pass reading, writing and math on the 10th-grade WASL as one of their graduation requirements. The Class of 2010, this year's ninth-graders, must pass those WASL subjects plus the science WASL.

Alarm over 10th-graders' low passage rate on the math and science WASL, plus growing dissatisfaction with the exam, have triggered calls for delay or change.

After last spring's exam, 49 percent of 10th-graders statewide had not met the math benchmark. Performance in science was even worse: only 35 percent of 10th-graders met the standard.

Though each specifies different timelines, both the House and Senate bills would essentially postpone math and science WASL graduation requirements starting with the classes of 2008 and 2010. Students who don't pass the math test could graduate if they kept studying math and met other requirements.

Both bills also would require state education officials to choose end-of-course tests in first-year algebra, geometry and biology to eventually replace the 10th-grade WASL.

The Senate version allows, and the House version requires, the tests to consist of multiple-choice questions.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson hopes to convince lawmakers to explore development of end-of-course exams incorporating Washington standards before killing the WASL.

"A multiple-choice test and dumping our standards is a disaster," Bergeson said.

TEST PREP

The WASL was designed to test Washington academic standards of what students should know and be able to do in math, reading, writing and science.

Over the past decade, school districts have collectively spent millions of dollars to revise curriculum and instruction in line with the standards and WASL. Third- through eighth-graders and 10th-graders take the test in various subjects each spring.

The exam features a mix of multiple choice and written response questions, which proponents say allows students to show they know how to apply the standards.

But critics contend test results aren't detailed enough to prescribe improvement, that the test is expensive to administer and score, that questions and expected answers can be subject to interpretation, and that schools haven't ramped up instruction enough to prepare students.

Still others, including the Washington Education Association, disagree with making graduation dependent on one test.

Tacoma schools Superintendent Charlie Milligan and Sondra Bright, Tacoma's director of science and math curriculum and instruction, testified before the Legislature supporting end-of-course assessments.

The WASL, Bright said, has problems with its technical reliability and validity -- a charge that the state superintendent's office disputes.

"There are good tests out there, off-the-shelf, already prepared, vetted and tested for reliability and validity," she said. "They would allow us to compare our students internationally and nationally, some for less than $20 per student."

The 10th-grade, four-subject WASL costs a total of $52 to $56 per student to administer and score, according to the state superintendent's office.

Bergeson contends that selecting an assessment that's not tailored to Washington state will force the state to rewrite its academic standards to fit the test.

"The standards are the driver of the teaching," Bergeson said. An "off-the-shelf" exam "makes all the K-through-9 standards useless because they're all building kids up to a level of skills to be prepared for the 10th-grade skills they need not only to pass the WASL but for the next level of math, reading, or science."

WASTED EFFORT?

Andrew Schwebke, Puyallup schools' student learning director for math and science, put it bluntly: "So the work we've been doing for the last several years (in science) is basically worthless, depending on who they buy the assessment from."

Schwebke and other science educators believe high school science scores will improve as students who've benefited from beefed-up science instruction progress through the grades.

Just last school year, Puyallup introduced new science curriculum in kindergarten through eighth grades, started consistently teaching science in elementary schools and required a full year of science, instead of the former half-year, in seventh and eighth grades.

Next year, students must study physical science in ninth grade instead of taking that or another science course later in high school.

Yet eliminating the science requirement for his Class of 2010 wouldn't bother Kevin Hillberg, a ninth-grader at Edgemont Junior High School in the Puyallup district.

He grinned and gave the thumbs-up sign saying, "I saw it on the news and I was like 'yes!' "

Ninth-grader Kyle Cleveland thinks the WASL would be better if it was limited to biology. But it wouldn't change his opinion about the graduation requirement.

As he and his lab partners conducted an experiment to identify an unknown chemical in their physical science course, Cleveland said, "If we passed this class, then why do we have to pass some big test? This covers everything."

"To prove that you actually understand the material," replied classmate Alyson Clairmont.

Clairmont wants to take the WASL as part of her graduation requirements.

"It doesn't concern me as long as I've been taught everything I need to be taught."

WHAT'S BEHIND THE LOW SCORES?

Here are some reasons science teachers and observers cite for low 10th-grade science scores:

--Schools haven't been teaching science consistently from elementary school through middle school until recently.

--The quality of instruction varies.

--Not all school districts have aligned their curriculum and teaching to the state science standards.

--Teens might be burned out by the time they get to the science WASL, which comes after the math, reading and writing sections.

--The science test is the newest subject to be added to the WASL. Proponents say the science scores are at about the same place that math and writing were at comparable implementation timelines.

--The science section hasn't counted yet for graduation so students might not be as motivated.

ABOUT THE BILLS

Bills could change dramatically during the legislative process but so far here are some key provisions of the two bills, which have passed their respective houses of origins and are working their way through the process. They would:

--Effectively delay the graduation requirement to pass the math WASL for at least the classes of 2008 and 2009, and possibly up to 2012 depending on the bill. Students who don't pass the math WASL must continue to study math in high school, though the bills vary on how many courses are required and whether they need to continue attempting the WASL.

--Effectively delay the graduation requirement to pass a statewide science exam for at least the Class of 2010 and possibly up to the Class of 2014, depending on the bill.

--Require state Board of Education and state superintendent of public instruction to choose "end-of-course," multiple-choice tests in algebra I, geometry and biology. The House bill would require tests to be able to be administered online. Tests would eventually replace the WASL math and science tests and students would need to pass them as part of their graduation requirements; timeline for implementation varies with each bill.

On the Net: To read legislative proposals that would revise the state WASL graduation requirement and the statewide exam, go to apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo. Search for ESSB 6023 and 2SHB 2327.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.

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