As I sat in the back of the Washington State Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) meeting yesterday (agenda here) listening to testimony and discussion, I couldn’t help but wonder-where are all of the other stakeholders? Joining me in the peanut gallery were representatives from many of the state’s schools of education, WEA and a few school districts. I didn’t see any reporters, or incensed citizens, teachers, what have you. Surprisingly, everyone was on their best behavior, even when things got a little heated-the heat being the reason I was surprised at my solo alien status.
The main reasons I rode MT194 to SeaTac were to hear about developments with implementation of Standard V and review of the WEST-B cut score. Standard V is one of five standards the PESB uses to evaluate teacher training programs in colleges and universities. Standard V lays out four competencies teacher candidates must meet through evidence-based outcomes, including incorporating math across the curriculum. Standard V is not yet fully implemented; a pilot program will begin this fall with five or so programs (see full timeline here).
Representatives of schools of education highlighted their progress with implementing Standard V and brought up what I thought were some interesting points. Namely, the schools of ed are trying to define what these evidence-based outcomes look like and how the schools of ed can obtain that information. They also expressed a rising concern with K-12 schools’ use of scripted curriculum and concerns over the WASL-factors effecting teacher candidates in their programs. So what does that mean for kids? It looks like the PESB is working to increase the quality of teachers coming out of the state’s schools of education, which is a good thing. Asking teacher candidates to demonstrate competencies with not only their work, but the work of their students, before they graduate can only help their future students.
After lunch, the board reviewed the passing score for the WEST-B, the state exam all prospective teachers must take for entrance into a teacher preparation program. Previously, the PESB set an initial WEST-B passing score below the Passing Score Panel’s recommendation, wanting to study the impact of the test. Now, with five years worth of data, PESB staff recommended the board raise the passing score to the panel’s original recommendation. After some aggressive questioning and debate, the PESB voted to maintain the passing rate as is, below the panel’s recommendation. Board members wondered at the need to increase the passing score, and opted to maintain the passing score because of this lack of evidence. Many good points were made, but what I found glaringly lacking was the relation to student achievement. Washington students are not at the level we would like them to be (as evidenced by low WASL scores and high college remediation rates), and some of this comes back to teachers. The PESB was correct in asking for more information, but didn’t ask about the impact on student achievement of teachers who scored between the low and high cut scores. In the end, the kids are who it is all about, and they were largely missing from the conversation.