Fwd: [ARN-state] Parent Empowerment/Mothers against WASL news release

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

  From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>

  Date: Wed Jun 4, 2008 10:52:44 AM US/Pacific

  To: <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, "ARN-L" <arn-l@interversity.org>,
  "arn2-strategy" <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>

  Subject: [ARN-state] Parent Empowerment/Mothers against WASL news release

  Reply-To: ARN-state@yahoogroups.com

  Parent Empowerment Network/Mothers Against WASL

  Contact: Juanita Doyon 253-973-1593

  Jedoyon@aol.com

  At 10:00 a.m., June 3, 2008, State Superintendent Teresa Bergeson will gather
  the media in Renton to present "an update on the of Class of 2008."

  During the next few weeks, Parent Empowerment Network (PEN) will thoroughly
  research numbers associated with the Class of 2008, including all students
  who entered 9th grade as members of the Class of 2008. PEN will poll schools
  and districts in an attempt to gain a sample comparison between student
  graduation and "credit deficient" numbers for the Class of 2008 and the same
  categories of students in the graduating classes of 2007 and 2006.

  It is the belief of PEN leadership that the focus on WASL failure has caused
  undue pressure on high school and all other students. For high school
  students, WASL failure has forced remedial classes without due cause, forced
  additional, often inappropriate, math classes, and forced removal of students
  from well-rounded high school schedules.

  The impact of concentration on WASL results has had inequitable impact on low
  income students, students with disabilities, and minority students. Whether
  these students are labeled “drop outs” before the final WASL administration
  or whether they fail all WASL tests and alternatives and are ultimately
  denied a diploma, the system and the state have failed to improve education
  for these categories of students in general, during the past 14 years of
  school reform.

  It is also the belief of PEN leadership that the state has failed to:

  1. Acknowledge and follow WASL Technical Report guidelines, which state:
  "While school and district scores may be useful in curriculum and
  instructional planning, it is important to exercise extreme caution when
  interpreting individual reports…Scores from one test given on a single
  occasion should never be used to make important decisions about students'
  placement, the type of instruction they receive, or retention in a given
  grade level in school." See http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/TechReports.aspx

  2. Provide all parents information regarding their rights to view and appeal
  their students’ WASL scores;

  3. Ensure all students equitable access to the Collection of Evidence (COE)
  and other WASL alternatives;

  4. Provide appropriate and necessary training to school staff regarding WASL
  alternatives;

  5. Provide appropriate and necessary resources to schools to support the
  provision of WASL alternatives to all students;

  6. Provide useful COE scoring criteria information to schools, parents and
  students;

  7. Score and return COEs in a timely manner and allow time for rescoring of
  COEs before graduation;

  8. Provide clear guidelines and instructions to allow students to complete
  revision of their COE;

  9. Identify a process for parents to review their students’ COE and, where
  appropriate, challenge the scoring process;

  10. Provide proof of validity and reliability of the COE system and scoring
  process (Parents have expressed concern that COEs completed by students at
  the school level and judged to be adequate (passing) by teachers are returned
  as failed by the state. The state has no evidence that the state scoring
  system is valid. There is no alignment between local and state COE
  expectations.);

  11. Encourage all local school boards to allow students who have completed
  all graduation requirements aside from WASL passage to take their rightful
  place beside peers during graduation ceremonies. Because the state has left
  this decision to local school boards, a situation of inequity has been
  created for seniors from district to district; and

  12. Inform school districts that students in special education classes now
  have the legal right (see Kevin’s Law
  http://www.metrokc.gov/dchs/ddd/employment/KevinsLaw.pdf ) to take part in
  graduation activities with their peers regardless of the need to continue
  into a 5th year of high school to complete course work or pass WASL or
  alternatives.

  — Mothers Against WASL

  Parent Empowerment Network

  2008-06-03

  http://www.mothersagainstwasl.org

  Monty Neill, Ed.D.

  Deputy Director

  FairTest

  342 Broadway

  Cambridge, MA 02139

  617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224

  monty@fairtest.org

  http://www.fairtest.org

  Donate: https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk

  __._,_.___
  Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional

  Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)

  Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully
  Featured

  Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

  __,_._,___

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll

http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F

Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!