What ongoing role do teachers play in the development and scoring of the WASL?
A. Teachers play a variety of roles. For example, teams of Washington state teachers develop all new test items for the WASL. These teams then collaborate with the state’s assessment contractor to fine-tune these new items. The role of teachers in the scoring of the WASL is also being expanded. In the summer of 2001, Washington 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-grade teachers participated as scorers of the 4th-grade writing portion of the WASL. OSPI plans to expand the role of Washington teachers in scoring over the next several years, phasing in teachers as scorers in all grades and subjects. Every year, more than 100 Washington state teachers also participate in “range-finding,” an exhaustive three-week process to ensure the criteria used by scorers accurately reflect our states’ academic standards.
