For our non-Washington audience, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, is a standardized criterion-referenced test of basic skills and curricular uptake that, for the first time ever, sophomores must pass in order to graduate.
I'm not a "political" teacher--I don't use the lectern as a bully pulpit, preaching to my students about the value of (or problems of) standardized tests--so the comments below aren't just students taking after their teacher. They're often provocative, sometimes underinformed, always honest.
I'm never gonna use any form of science in my future. Why do all of us have to take it? Why not just use science for pepole who know they're actually gonna use it in their future? And the same with art requirements.
Is there any way to change the elective class system to make all math classes past Algebra 1 electives?
They are hypocritical. They make us pass the WASL; why don't they do it? They think it is necessary for our education. But they didn't have to pass it, yet they are now successful politicians? They lie to the public again. They just want to make money.
What can we do about teachers who are not fun or care for their kids and just yell at them constantly?
Why do we have all these old textbooks?
You should bring up the WASL. Talk to the legislators about why it got changed to a graduation requirement. If they think it's fair to take away the graduation certificates of students because of one test, a test that won't show everything we've learned through high school. Students will have two more years to gain knowledge after taking the test.
I think that the WASL should be a test on how well the teacher is teaching students.
I have to ask what is being done for our overcrowded schools. Sure, they're remodeling Capital, but what exactly is this doing for the students, besides taking away even more classes.
What can we do about teaching about alcohol in health class? Last year they taught us more about smoking, but not really about alcohol. A health teacher was going on about how cigarette ads are corrupting children, and I asked her, umm, alcohol is still on TV, and she said it doesn't appeal to children as much as smoking. She had no idea what she was saying--have you ever seen a Bacardi and cola commercial where they drench girls in alcohol? Why do we teach about one thing, but not the other that is worse for you?
I think that the schools are under-funded. There have been numerous classes over my past two years at Capital High School where I have not been able to have my own book.
Everyone teachers, friends, parents, siblings are always telling students, friends, daughters, sons, to just be themselves. So if they want us all to be individuals and not all the same, why do we all have a standardized test? Such as the WASL, the IOWA, or even the SAT’s. We all know that everyone is not all up at the same place in the learning process. So how can we make it a law that all students have to pass the WASL in order to graduate from high school? What legislators need to realize before they pass these ridiculous laws is that a lot of students do have learning disabilities and can’t pass all the parts of the WASL. So how is this fair to those with learning diabilities? They just aren’t going to be able to pass high school because of something in their life they can’t control, but are trying to overcome it by everything they can do for themselves. Don’t you people realize that failing the WASL is just a major set back for them and makes them feel incapable and stupid when in reality they aren’t they just need some help to get up to pace with other students. Why do this to these kids when they are doing everything they can to help themselves? Also why do you have to make all the other kids worrying about not being able to pass high school just because of some ridiculous standardized test? Realize we aren’t standard people we are all individuals.
In the states of Washington and Oregon, I think that a way you can improve education is to limit or reduce the size of all classes so there are 15 people in a class, max. If you reduce the size of classes, then each individual student can receive more attention, and because of that, their grades will rise from the increase of attention. If you receive more help, the problem that you needed special attention with will stick in your head more. The downfall of bigger classes is that there are too many student for each teacher and the teacher winds up getting oferwhelmed in questions and gets distracted from other people that will wind up getting worse grades thast will reflect badly on the student, making people think less of him or her.
I don’t know a lot about the education system. But I think the class of 2008 is being forced to be the guinea pigs for the state's new regulations. I don't like that at all. I feel like I have all these new things that make my education harder that no one before me has had to deal with. I think it will backfire and make the graduation rates less, not more. The whole senior project thing is not fun either. Theres to many things that the 2008 class are getting piled on them, it doesn’t feel good to be the state's guinea pig at all.
Why did they choose us to make the W.A.S.L. a graduation requirement? Why were we chosen to have to take 3 credits of arts as a graduation requirement? Why are they making it so much harder on us to graduate? I don’t understand why they put all these new requirements on us. Why couldn't they spread them out through other years of graduates? I don't think the state has our best interests in mind. It seems they want us to fail more than they want us to succeed.
If I ran into a legislator I would ask him/her, “Why do we have teachers, teaching us subjects, that they didn’t even major in?” That would be my question. I would ask that because I am tired of my math teacher always making careless errors, and always expecting us to catch him on his mistakes. I don't see why they put under-qualified teachers in a class room and expect us to get a good education!
I dont see the point of the WASL. Why can't they assess your learning by looking at your grades? If someone gets good grades on assighntments but bombs tests because they are too tense to think and they can't remember what they studied or learned, then they won't do all that well on the WASL. So just because someone isnt relaxed enough to pass the WASL doesnt mean that they aren’t smart enough to move on to the next grade.
I feel like teachers don’t get paid enough. That is such a huge cliche, but nothing is ever done about it. Nobody realizes or at least mentions that without teachers the world would not go on, and I’m not even over-dramatizing it. You can’t be anyone in this world without education. You have to have a degree, or if you're traveling you must know the languages you learn in school. Teachers shape the kind of people we as students become and in my opinion they are completely underpaid. When you grow up and graduate out of school, the simple advice or even the little things that only teachers can give you are remembered and you take that with you and pass it on. They make such a big impact in not only thie big ways but the little. These teachers spend the little money they do get on their own school supplies or extra things to make the classroom more of an experience.
1 comment:
Wow. It's like the vocalizing babies do to learn talk, but it's opinionizing. Like babies, it's sincere and cogent seeming but somehow nonsensical at the same time. It's neat to think something like that develops so late in life. I guess I tend to disbelieve anything real goes on in school, prefering to believe I was born fully formed out of Zeus's head.
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