Shorts

Politicians Tested in Washington?

Washington State educators recently decided that if their children will be forced to take standardized tests to prove themselves, so should their elected public officials.

An initiative was filed on Jan. 9 which would require anyone who wants to run for public office to take the 10th grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Although they would not be required to pass in order to remain on the ballot, candidates would have to publicly list their scores on the test. The initiative will go before Washington voters as part of elections next November.

According to the initiative, "The 10th Grade WASL provides accountability for high school students. The citizens of Washington require similar accountability from candidates for public office...[measuring] knowledge and skills required for adult success."

The proposal is part of a larger effort to draw public attention to the problems of high-stakes testing in schools.

Black Pledge of Allegiance

Despite hundreds of ugly e-mails, a northeastern Oklahoma City school district plans to keep "The Black Pledge of Allegiance" posted on its website.

The pledge was written by students in Millwood three years ago during a lesson on multiculturalism and calls in part for people to pledge to "One nation of black people...united in the struggle for black love; Black freedom, and black determination."

The Black Pledge was posted in a chatroom on the conservative website FreeRepublic.com on Jan. 16, 2002, where it was immediately branded as "racist" and "separatist." According to the district's superintendent, shortly after the pledge's posting on the conservative website, e-mail responses began flowing to the 99 percent African-American district.

Millwood Superintendent Gloria Griffin told the Washington Times she was not removing the pledge. "I don't think African-Americans should be asked to give up their symbols," she said. "Symbols are reminders of something that represent a custom and a part of history."

Income-Based 'Desegregation'

Cambridge, Mass. could possibly be spearheading a new type of "desegregation" movement with its plan to base elementary school enrollment on income as opposed to race.

Passed by a 6-0 school board vote on Dec. 18, the plan is based on research which shows that poor students benefit from being surrounded by more affluent students due to standards imposed on the latter.

"We are acknowledging the inequities in the system and we are not afraid to admit it," said Mayor and school board chairman Anthony Galluccio in an interview with the Boston Globe.

The plan is to start in the fall 2002 with the incoming kindergarten classes and will allow Cambridge parents to put together a list of their top three school choices. Race will be used as an alternate assignment factor if racial diversity falls below a certain point.

Bush Pushes Abstinence-only

The Bush administration's proposed education budget calls for an increase of $33 million this year for "abstinence-only" sexuality education.

Almost 900,000 teenagers get pregnant each year. Most public health experts argue that while it is important to teach teenagers about abstinence, birth control education must be a part of any comprehensive approach to the complicated topic of teen pregnancy.

As part of the welfare "reform" in 1996, conservatives tucked in a provision providing federal support to those programs teaching only about abstinence. While more comprehensive sexuality education measures are not prohibited, the lack of federal financial support undercuts the ability of districts to pay for the more comprehensive curricula.

Small Classes Work

A Wisconsin initiative to reduce class size in the early elementary grades is leading to improved academic gains, according to the latest report on the program.

The class-size reduction program, Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE), concentrates on students living in poverty and lowers the student-teacher ratio to 15:1 for K-3rd grade students.

The fifth year report, released on Jan. 23, follows the 30 schools that first implemented the program in 1996-97. The latest results show that SAGE third graders achieved on the Terra Nova Comprehensive Basic Skills Test at levels higher than control groups not in the SAGE program.

"The data suggests that students continue to be best served by being in SAGE throughout the early years of their education," said SAGE evaluator Alex Molnar, who directs the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University.

Tests and the New Federal Law

Although the recently reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will likely dramatically increase the number of standardized tests, the law itself never once mentions the word "tests." Opponents of increased standardized testing are publicizing this fact in an attempt to soften the new law's likely impact.

The law says "states must develop assessment systems that will provide 'academic assessments' of student progress in reading/language arts and math every year in grades 3-8 and once in high school."

"The law does not specifically require a state-administered standardized exam of any sort," according to FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing,

Maine and Nebraska have proposed that a mix of state-administered and local assessments, including classroom-based assessments, could constitute the state assessment system. Rules now being developed by the U.S. Department of Education will clarify the situation.

FairTest encourages educators and parents to contact their state education officials and push for flexible, more authentic forms of assessment.

For more information visit the FairTest web site at www.fairtest.org.

- Stacie Williams

Spring 2002