WASL Changes

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Story Published: Jan 20, 2009 at 7:35 PM PDT

By Melissa Wagner

KIMA asked local teachers what they're hoping Randy Dorn will do for their students. Educators say they want a new test. Their main complaint is the WASL doesn't show the real story behind each student, where they went wrong or how they can improve. They also believe it doesn't take into account Yakima's spanish speakers.

Teachers say they want change, but some worry it may be too much. " I have a feeling it's going to end up worse to be honest. I think he thinks doing away with it is gonna solve a lot of problems. But I think kids need to be tested." said Stephenie LaCoursiere, 4th grade teacher at Adams Elementary in Yakima. She says if it was up to her, she'd adjust how the writing portion is handed out and looked at, "Write your best vacation ever. Well, a lot of those kids don't leave this area or get the chance to go anywhere."

At Adams Elementary a lot of the students are ESL - English as second language. The WASL is given entirely in English. Now, imagine taking a test in a language that you find a little difficult to understand. 4th grade Teacher, Lynn Noel says "That is a huge disadvantage to show what the student knows or doesn't know."

And for certain districts it can really bring their overall scores down. Lynn hopes some of these changes will allow her ESL students to succeed, where before they really didn't have a chance. She suggests these changes to the WASL, " Giving it in their own native language possibly or having it read to them in their native language if that's possible."

Teachers say there is a lot of room for change when it comes to the WASL. More importantly, they hope Dorn agrees that it shouldn't be the only way to measure a student's success. Dorn has suggested before that he would love to do away with the WASL altogether. A number of educators hope he will instead adopt the Map Test. It's computerized, which means test results are in right away, in comparison to waiting six months for WASL results.

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