The WASL : What do Our 10th Graders Think about It? Washington Educational Research Association 22nd Annual Washington State Assessment Conference December, SeaTac Mike Jacobsen-Assessment & Curriculum Director-White River School District

Background No previous survey data on this question Student voice/perspective is critical to our work Needed to obtain data in an objective fashion Helps to guide intervention efforts Curiosity Data is good

Development of the Tool Reviewed the literature –Educational Effectiveness Survey-Summary of Students Perceptions of the Characteristics of High Performing Schools-2005 Determined a 5 point Likert scale was the most appropriate response format Determined questions that needed to be addressed Draft questions were shared with secondary building administrators Final draft after revisions was created in a WORD doc.

WRSD WASL 10th WASL Survey: Gender Participation

WRSD 10th WASL Survey: Ethnic Status

WRSD 10th WASL Survey: Special Education Status

Participation 198 Surveys returned 51% of all 10 graders taking the WASL in WRSD Focus groups conducted in five different 10th grade classes

The Survey I have had discussions with my parents about the WASL? My language arts/reading teachers prepared me to take the WASL? My math teachers prepared me to take the WASL? I was given practice with questions in a WASL format before taking the test? I was nervous before taking the WASL? I know the state learning targets for my grade level and subject? My school provided enough support for me to be successful on the WASL?

The Survey The WASL was a difficult test? I am confident I passed the WASL in Reading? I am confident I passed the WASL in Math? I am confident I passed the WASL in Writing? If I need to retake the WASL because I did not pass, I would most likely: –Attend before school tutoring –Attend after school tutoring –Attend a 4 week, 2 hour a day summer school –Take a WASL help class during the school day –Go on-line and use the practice tests How could your school better prepare all students to be more successful on the WASL?

The Survey All items were scored as follows: –Almost Always True=5 –Often True=4 –Sometimes True=3 –Seldom True=2 –Almost Never True=1

Development of the Tool The scantron form was created using Magenta- Scan Form Design Software –Published by Data Blocks-Palmdale California.c The finished form was sent to district print shop for multiple copies During copying the machine mis-aligned the timing marks on the side Scanning was not possible so the results had to be tabulated using Excel

Administration Procedures Scheduled the week after the High School WASL Classroom teachers were asked to participant by high school administrators Teachers were told that students could opt out if they had any objections Sample script was developed for teachers to read to students prior to taking the survey Administered during within the 10th grade core Enough copies for each 10th teacher were sent from the Assessment and Curriculum Office The estimated time was about 20 minutes for completion of the survey

The Results: Mean Scores

Focus Groups/Comments on Surveys: What they told us Students wanted instruction on skills they were not proficient on rather than just being assigned a grade and moving on Students appreciated the water and snacks on the days of the WASL The WASL was not as hard as they had been led to believe Provide credit for WASL help classes Provide practice on WASL type items starting in first grade

Focus Groups/Comments on Surveys: What they told us They could give us practice tests, tutor us and encourage us that we could do it The way our school could help us better with the WASL is to work more with the math and science Maybe a pre-test on the expected basics of the WASL test itself Provide more practice packets They did an awesome job with reading and writing prep. They need better math prep.

Focus Groups/Comments on Surveys: What they told us Teach the students the skills needed in the first place so that way students don’t have to worry about whether they are going to pass the WASL or not Keep students with familiar teachers during the WASL window Start preparing at the beginning of the year Look more closely at what teachers are teaching us in regards to the WASL to see if we are learning everything we need

Focus Groups/Comments on Surveys: What they told us Bring a lot of Mountain Dew Get more snacks and keep the room warmer Give the dates of the WASL so that I could show up on the right days I have no clue and don’t care Don’t have it! I don’t have enough knowledge about student learning behaviors to know

Implications Even though progress has been made with putting WASL practice items in student hands, 25% of survey respondents indicated this practice was either sometimes, seldom or never true When asked about being prepared by math teachers, 58% of survey respondents indicate this practice was either sometimes, seldom or never true Even though progress has been made with providing support to students, 35% of survey respondents indicated this practice was either sometimes, seldom or never true

Implications 54% of students reported that their knowledge of the learning target was either sometimes, seldom or never true In contrast to reading which was 31%, 66% of students reported that their confidence in passing the math was either sometimes, seldom or never true 89% of students reported their interest in attending a 4 week WASL summer school was either sometimes, seldom or never true In contrast, 40% of students reported their interest in attending a WASL class during school was either almost always or often true