Dorn: Washington schools are better than AYP makes it seem, assessment test is still required without WASL

State Schools Superintendent Randy Dorn is up at the WASL press conference: “Although this is a WASL release, it also has a lot to do with AYP… I really have a view about AYP and it’s basically that it’s going to give you the impression that we have way more schools that need improvement … actually, that’s not true,” he said. He said the schools in that category are getting better faster.

“The federal government is actually failing us in the actual law of No Child Left Behind,” he said, adding that it undermines the confidence in public education. “We have actually done a very good job. I have always had a firm belief in my life that you get a lot more out of people with encouragement and incentives rather than punishment, and that’s what AYP does: Punishment.”

You can watch the press conference LIVE at TVW.org now.

“We need to move forward on what I call ‘Reform 2,’” Dorn said. He said that includes resources and “more diagnostic information to teachers.”

“The last press conference that we held was on the WASL and I’ve heard many people say and it’s been talked about: Is it going to be a different assessment? Absolutely,” he said. Dorn said the WASL will not be given again. Now, it’s called “Measures of Student Progress,” or MSP. “I want to be real clear, high school students will still have to take an assessment, it will still be a graduation requirement.”

Tags: Dorn, WASL