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Past Issues November 2005 Public release’ of Washington test items reveals incorrect answers and strange questions
| Public release’ of Washington test items reveals incorrect answers and strange questions |
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By George N. Schmidt According to a November 1 press release from the Parent Empowerment Network (PEB) in Washington state, parents discovered errors in released WASL test items. By George N. Schmidt According to a November 1 press release from the Parent Empowerment Network (PEB) in Washington state, parents discovered errors in released WASL test items. In examining recently released 10th grade Math WASL items, a Parent Empowerment Network (PEN) research team in Western Washington discovered several errors. These errors were confirmed by PEN member and research consultant Dr. Donald Orlich, professor emeritus, WSU. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) was made aware of several mistakes in the released tests and immediately removed the entire sample set from the OSPI website. The website now presents a statement in place of the released tests: “The practice high school WASL tests will be reposted next week. Several of the practice items were re-created incorrectly and we are working to correct those errors.” Craig Vernon, a professional civil engineer and member of PEN, from Spanaway, stated, “I found that Monday’s released test combined with the answer key contained 7 errors in the multiple choice portion alone. This is a huge quality control issue on a 42 question test. If this is any indication of the actual test quality control, all previous data is in question. I also found problems with the subjective grading criteria for the written problems: correctly answered problems were not given full credit due to quirks in the written response requirements of the grading guidelines.” “This is just one more nail in WASL’s coffin,” said Juanita Doyon, Director of PEN. “It took parents to find these mistakes. Obviously, there is a quality control problem within OSPI and Pearson Education Measurement, the testing company contracted by Washington State. We have no reason to believe that the 2006 WASL, a test that students must pass in order to receive a diploma, will be of any higher quality than previous tests or these released items. It is appalling that the legislature continues to underwrite this ill-conceived and poorly administered assessment system that mislabels and causes great harm to our students, teachers and schools. The state superintendent has set a standard of educational performance for students and teachers that her office is failing to meet!” Just two weeks ago, PEN learned that Pearson misscored tests in Virginia, causing 60 students to receive failing scores when they had actually passed the test. The Virginia Speaker of the House has called for a full investigation into that state’s $138 million contracts with Pearson. In 2000, Pearson used the wrong answer key on 47,000 student tests in Minnesota, which resulted in a $7 million lawsuit settlement. PEN calls on the legislature to launch a full investigation into this matter and calls upon the Attorney General to halt the destruction of student test booklets. Student tests from 2004 are scheduled to be destroyed within the next few months. This would destroy evidence of error. In addition, the PEN director and Mr. Craig Vernon will seek a meeting with members of the Attorney General’s staff to demand full disclosure of the conditions which led to the release and subsequent removal of WASL test items, administrative items and scoring guides that contained egregious errors. Contact: Juanita Doyon, Director, Parent Empowerment Network 253-973-1593. Craig Vernon, PEN Member, 253-538-2906 (work) Earlier, PEN had hailed the release of the items in an October 26 press release. “After years of secrecy and “test security,” the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has now chosen to display the entire 2005, 10th grade Reading and Math WASL tests and all instructions for administration and scoring guides on the OSPI website,” said a PEN press release. “Making the tests and scoring guidelines available to the public is a total reversal in policy,” said Juanita Doyon, Director of Parent Empowerment Network/Mothers Against WASL. “OSPI finally recognized its legal responsibility to allow parents to view their children’s tests this past spring. However, since then, parents have struggled through a myriad of bureaucratic red tape, only being allowed to see tests in the presence of OSPI officials after signing non-disclosure/ confidentiality statements. Parents have also been told that the scoring guides for the tests were not available for viewing. Now, all of a sudden, OSPI divulges the tests, in their entirety, to the public. It doesn’t make sense. According to previous statements by OSPI testing officials, each WASL question will cost taxpayers $20,000 to replace. That means the cost of releasing the math test alone is nearly one million dollars!” The current actions of the OSPI raise many questions. But whatever the motives of these actions, political or otherwise, it is the continued position of members of Parent Empowerment Network that no one test or series of tests should be used to determine student placement or graduation. This position is shared by WEA, the National PTA, numerous educational associations and experts, and WASL’s own technical report. Released tests were discovered on the opening page of the OSPI website on Monday, October 24, 2005. Documents can now be found for downloading at: _http://www. k12.wa.us/ assessment/ WASL/HS releasedtests.aspx_(http:// www. k12.wa. us /assessment/ WASL/HS released tests. aspx) One day after the first release, Juanita Doyon said: “I have just been notified that OSPI has indicated that the 2005 released WASL tests are a composite of previously released items. These items have been configured in a manner to reflect the construction of an actual test. “Parent Empowerment Network’s press release, 10/26/05, was written based on the titles and format of documents available on the OSPI website. The test documents are titled, “HS Mathematics Released Test 2005” and “HS Released Reading Test 2005.” This is clearly misleading, as it does not refer to these tests as “sample tests.” |
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