Randy Dorn is running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction as an "experienced educator".
Indeed, his Voter's Guide statement1 provides something of an education in English composition. For example, you can learn all about run-on sentences:
[Dorn and his wife] are the parents of three grown sons, one is a public school teacher, while another is studying to be a teacher.You can also learn about unparallel construction:
Randy Dorn will be a forceful advocate for school funding, reminding the legislature it is their paramount duty to fully fund a basic education rather than relying on local levies.(This might be a mere coincidence, but Dorn is the candidate who opposes rigorous standards).
1To view Dorn's statement in Sam Reed's oddly designed Online Voter's Guide, visit the Voter's Guide home page, then click on State Executive, then Washington State, then scroll down to Superintendent of Public Instruction, then click on Randy Dorn.
hat tip: Bruce B.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 21, 2008 08:50 AM | Email ThisOn the one hand, there is Terry Bergeson who has previously been the darling of the WEA. Not Good and not good results.
On the other hand, there is the newcomer who is endorsed by the WEA. Not Good, either. But, if it is WEA endorsed, I have to go Bergeson.
Then, there is my conservative teacher brother who is endorsing Dorn. My teacher brother is also not a fan of the WEA.
What to do? What to do?
Posted by: swatter on October 21, 2008 08:50 AM"to fully fund"
I agree, this is a very hard choice. We need standards. The WASL has problems. Better the WASL than no standards at all.
My bigger concern is the drop-outs who are excluded from the stats about WASL success rates. What is happening to these children? What can help them? I need to read more about how the candidates propose to keep children in school.
Posted by: Commentator on October 21, 2008 09:02 AMDorn does not want to abandon standards. He wants to replace the WASL with another test ( I believe he is leaning towards MAP [Measure of Academic Progress], a very reliable test).
Do some research on WASL standards-they are not very high at all, especially when you factor in the grading criteria, which is why you can't really judge by just the GRE's alone (GRE=Grade Level Expectations). When you understand how WASL is graded you will see why it is such a bad test, getting the correct answer doesn't really get you many points at all.
The WASL will cost taxpayers $122 per test next year. The Map test is around $10. You do the math.
Bergeson is also responsible for the math fiasco in our state. We will never have kids competent in math as long as she is around. The legislature tried to force Begeson to fix the math by demanding that our math standards be re-written.
So what did Bergeson do? She re-hired the same company that wrote our last terrible math standards, while passing up much lower bids from the company that wrote California's now world class math standards! We were this close to having great math standards and Bergeson blew it!
We can still have standards (hopefully much higher standards), we can still test. We just need to get Bergeson, discovery math, and WASL (which is based on 'fuzzy curricula') out of the way.
Either the WASL has to go or they have to stop sugar-coating my daughter's proficiency. This year, my daughter is getting plenty of attention as we are paying more attention.
Then, you get the brain-dead governor talk about lower the WASL standard so more kids pass.
So, is it Dorn by default? It is a dorn good thing the election is only a couple weeks away.
Posted by: swatter on October 21, 2008 10:27 AMBut Dorn has even more problems. Aside from the WEA endorsement, he is hounded by scandal at every turn of his career.
This article in the Tri-City Herald http://www.tri-cityherald.com/io/story/197534.html
tells how he tried to get a law passed that would only benefit himself and one other guy...by $90,000 a year. This is recent.
Then there is the old problem that was the reason he was drummed out of the State House in the first place...using taxpayer funds for campaign purposes.
We use the expression a lot, but this truly is a matter of the "lesser of two evils."
Posted by: Chad Minnick on October 21, 2008 10:28 AM"And Randy Dorn will replace the WASL with a testing system that is more fair, more understandable, and takes less time..."
Posted by: Bruce on October 21, 2008 11:09 AMFrom the Voters Pamphlet:
"Dino Rossi will REPLACE THE WASL with a proven standardized test modeled after successful exams from other states and require students to meet fair and rigorous standards."
"Randy Dorn will REPLACE THE WASL with a testing system that is more fair, more understandable, and takes less time, so testing doesn't dominate curriculum and the school calendar."
Randy Dorn is endorsed by the following Republicans:
Sen Don Benton, R-Vancouver
Sen Jerome Delvin, R-Richland
Sen Pam Roach, R-Auburn
Sen Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville
Sen Dan Swecker, R-Rochester
Rep Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, House Education Committee, Asst Ranking Minority Member
Rep Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee
Rep Tom Campbell, R-Roy
Rep Steve Hailey, R-Moses Lake
Rep Larry Haler, R-Richland
Rep Shirley Hankins, R-Richland
Rep Bill Hinkle, R-Ellensburg
Rep Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe
Rep Skip Priest, R-Federal Way, Ranking Minority member, House Education Committee
Rep Joe Schmick, R-Colfax
Rep Maureen Walsh, R-College Place
Rep Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake
Randy Dorn is endorsed by the traditional math advocacy group, Where's The Math?
This one is easy. If you support the WASL, vote for Bergeson. If you support replacing the WASL and getting back to traditional math, vote for Randy Dorn.
Posted by: Chris Vance on October 21, 2008 11:55 AMI agree with Chris Vance, the choice is obvious given Bergeson's staunch support for constructivist math. Similarly, although McCain is not the best choice, he's certainly better than Obama.
Posted by: Jeff B. on October 21, 2008 12:36 PMNonetheless I agree that writing ability is not nearly as important as policy positions or managerial competence. (But nor am I swayed by political endorsements or oversimplifications like "support WASL" or "support traditional math".)
Posted by: Bruce on October 21, 2008 01:04 PMCheck out the difference between TERC Investigations Math as pushed by Bergeson, and Saxon Math as pushed by parents and school districts who want a return to competitive math skills as taught to US students.
"Singapore Math" based curriculums consistently create students who score higher on real math assessment tests.
Anyone who has attained Bergeson's title should be able to comprehend the evidence and choose curriculums that are best for students. The fact that she would even consider constructivist math curriculums shows that her motivations lie outside of what is best for our students. Many parents have fought hard to get their WA districts to abandon Bergeson's experiment.
And you would do well to speak with the middle school and high school math teachers who are now seeing the influx of students who have gone through the past several years under Bergeson's constructivist tutelage. They will tell you that the kids are some of the most poorly educated math students that they have ever taught.
This ought to be a concern for all US citizens. Instead it appears that left leaning voters and administrators are willing to use kids as political footballs. In many schools the focus has shifted to assessment tests and propaganda like Al Gore's movie, instead of on core, and historically successful curricula.
Fortunately, we continue to see a strong influx of Asian students and families who do value math, and who will hopefully keep the US somewhat competitive on a global scale.
Posted by: Jeff B. on October 21, 2008 02:03 PMIn a perfect world, I'd get to vote "none of the above."
What I'd really like is some former Principle of a big private school. Alas, one isn't running and the WEA would murder him if one did.
Posted by: Cliff on October 21, 2008 02:04 PMThis fellow Eatonvillain will wind up voting for Dorn. Mostly because of his porn star good looks.
It's a better reason than most.
Posted by: Don Ward on October 21, 2008 03:10 PMThe WEA initially supported another candidate, but he dropped out, leaving Randy as Bergeson's only viable opponent. Given the WEA's relationship with Bergeson (ironically the former President of the WEA) they endorsed Randy.
The WEA opposes testing as a graduation requirement. Randy strongly disagrees. He just believes we need a better test and better standards.
Posted by: Chris Vance on October 21, 2008 03:38 PMI think they meant "Bus Driver Wanted"
This happens everywhere, people do not look at what they type and thinks that spell checker will fix all there errors them rotted.
(I know about the errors above I did it intentionally hahaha)
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
I bet you could read the above.... weird
Posted by: Variable on October 21, 2008 03:41 PMTired of being faked out and mis-directed?
I am ..... so remove Terry Bergeson.
Bergeson and McCune go way back as working partners. Then they paid another Theosophist, Robert Carkhuff to implement his 'thinking system' on education. Even though Carkhuff is not listed as an employee of OSPI he has received millions in grant money since Bergeson has been in office.
Bergeson, McCune and Carkhuff are all nut jobs. Here is the book McCune wrote on Theosophy titled, "The Light Shall Set You Free" http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0962741779/interactiveda274-20
McCune states that her book was written with the help of several "spirit guides", such as Kuthumi, she also believes that the pyramids were created by aliens (it is all in her book!).
It would not be so funny if your tax dollars did not go into supporting their nutty beliefs. Google the names Carkhuff and McCune and see what you think.
Posted by: Whole Lotta Rosie on October 21, 2008 04:24 PMA combination vote for ROSSI and DORN is the ONLY way we have hope to bring REAL education BACK into our public schools!
A vote you can be PROUD of - VOTE Randy Dorn!
He's a homegrown Washington guy and knows the ills our schools have endured under the miserable reign of the evil Queen!
*be sure to Google {Kathumi-McCune-WASL-Bergeson} for those who have a problem voting for a WEA, SIEU, and State Dem endorsed candidate, ok?
Run on sentences? Ha! I wish that were the only concern we had to worry about. Don't sweat the small stuff. Your pro-American energy is needed in other area's of concern, believe me.
Randy DORN is the only logical choice for our state schools. VOTE DOEN! Just hold your nose and DO IT! (you'll be so glad you did!)
I need a lattè. :-)
Posted by: EducationAgiTater on October 21, 2008 07:44 PMMAP Testing (Measure of Academic Progress)information can be found at http://www.nwea.org/assessments/map.asp
1. Saves BIG money we can redirect into our schools for smaller class sizes and teacher pay increases, etc.
2. MAP's is a standardized test; already approved to be used to comply with NCLB.
WASL is neither 'standardized' nor approved!
(12 yrs with NO approval? Somethin's fishy there!)
3. MAP's is diagnostic. (WASL isn't)
It will identify the top 5 weakest skills for each individual student per subject tested.
4. MAP test results are available within 72 hours of testing. (WASL takes weeks..... months?)
5. Students can be MAP retested four times during the year to 'map' progress and prove forward progress as they target the identified weak skills needing focus.
6. MAP testing DOESN'T monopolize the whole year of teaching/learning. Instruction doesn't have to be 'teaching to the test' like WASLization is.
Go with a vote for Randy Dorn!
Posted by: EducationAgiTater on October 21, 2008 08:09 PMIn my post @ 5, I referred to Grade Level Expectations as 'GRE's when I meant 'GLE's.
and NCLB=No Child Left Behind.
Education Agitator makes a good point that Rossi and Dorn would work well together, but Rossi and Bergeson would not.
You mean like when Helmet Hair chooses to use the androgynous "Chris" in her campaign collateral so the uninformed voter has no idea if they are voting for a male or a hermaphrodite...er..I mean...woman?
Posted by: Dave on October 21, 2008 10:49 PMEthics board focuses on Bergeson, two others
State inquiry cites improprieties with publications, grants
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TACOMA -- Terry Bergeson, seeking re-election as state superintendent of public instruction, is being investigated for possible ethics violations relating to federal grants her office helped develop and administer.
The state Executive Ethics Board also is investigating her educational liaison, Shirley McCune, and Andrew Griffin, assistant superintendent.
The investigation follows a complaint by Nancy Vernon, a Bergeson critic and Spanaway parent who often reviews state and local school records.
The complaint asserts the three officials had conflicts of interest in managing, writing or paying for publications related to a few federal grants because all three have had a longtime professional association with author Robert Carkhuff, who received contracts under the grants.
The complaint specifically alleges McCune and Griffin each co-wrote a book with Carkhuff and that the publications were paid for with grant money. Bergeson was grant administrator. The state later used grant money to buy more than $50,000 worth of those books, the complaint said.
The ethics board will review if any of the three administrators benefited personally or financially from the arrangement. SPI spokeswoman Shirley Skidmore said none has ever received any royalties or payments from Carkhuff or his company.
Posted by: Whole Lotta Rosie on October 22, 2008 02:34 PMNo, the errors are in Dorn's statement in the voter's guide. I would expect a candidate to personally read that statement before submitting it, so this tells me that Dorn is a poor writer -- not a fatal flaw in the state's top educator, but a significant one. I would not expect the superintendent to personally review every version of the WASL or an award pin.
Posted by: Bruce on October 22, 2008 11:33 PMMr. Dorn (and Mr. Vance, for that matter) calls for replacing the WASL with the another standardized test. But virtually every state that uses an off-the-shelf exam (see: Deleware, Illinois, Maine) has found that these tests need to be augmented with custom material to reflect their state standards. They report that they end up spending as much or more than It having a test custom-designed for your state, like the WASL.
And by the way, all fiscal conservatives should keep two things in mind. First, the WASL is already developed -- with a $3.2+ Billion deficit, do we really need the expense of starting over? Second, the $112 per student number is not accurate. The new assessment contract is about $28 million per year for the 1,000,000 students in K-12. And that seems to me to be a pretty reasonable investment in quality control (less than 1 percent) for a system that spends $9+ Billion annually.
Finally, a few words on the MAP that Mr. Dorn now seems infatuated with. (Of course, his views change frequently, so this is kind of a moving target.) The MAP is a decent class-room diagnostic tool, but the Feds have already rejected it as an unsufficent measure of student achievement for federal accountability purposes. Does this mean Dorn wants to blow off the billions WA receives in federal K-12 support (fiscal lunacy), or that he wants to do both MAP and another comprehensive assessment (and odd position for a critic of how much time is spent testing students).
Worse yet, does Dorn not even know this?
Schools and students have made great progress under Bergeson. We can't afford to turn K-12 education over to an amateur.
Posted by: Voice of Reason on October 23, 2008 08:07 AMWASL has failed our students in many areas. To name a few:
Given failing grades from The Fordham Foundation and others on curriculum.
Washington State was put on mandatory oversight by the U.S. Dept. of Ed because of WASL.
Ignored its own technical reports saying it should never be used for major decisions (i.e. graduation)
Bergeson has ignored the legislature and citizens for their concerns on the test it's self.
Cost too much for results that are worthless. (Look up Washington's ever increasing contract with Pearson)
Narrowed curriculum as the curriculum is designed around the test rather than the test around the curriculum, eliminating things such as civics, vocational programs and more.
Multiple mistakes have been found in more than 1 yrs tests.
As a result of this test labeling many "failures" putting schools at risk with failing NCLB AYP.
Violating parents and students rights with things such as illegal surveys and denial of rights to see the test.
Graduation rates are only at 70%...after 12 years of her tenure shouldn't these be higher IF she was doing her job? (rhetorical question)
These are just a few for instances of her failure to do her job.
Bergeson has already said if elected this would be her last term. The next election is 2012. Do yourself a favor based on what others here have said about Bergeson, McCune and Carkhuff and look up theosophy and 2012. (it becomes very clear why she's not interested in 2012)
Bergeson has already had enough time and I'm giving her a "below standard" grade. It's time to give someone else a chance to fix the mistakes of the last 12 years. It's time to elect Randy Dorn!
The alarms didn't fully go off for me until I received his 7th grade WASL score in 2002. At that time I received his second "failing" WASL scores. Yet, when laid side by side with his ITBS scores I couldn't understand why. My son had scored between the 75-90% percentiles on his ITBS tests in the very same categories that he had failed on WASL, both in 4th grade and 7th. (To this date I still have all those scores.) Being a solid 3.0 student combined with his ITBS scores this set off red flags to me and I began to ask myself if a student such as my son fails, what does this mean to a child with a learning disability? My middle son is Dyslexic.
As my children continued in the public school system over the next few years, I began to opt my children out of WASL testing until I got some answers that satisfied me......6 years later, I'm still waiting. I still have not seen from the state an adequate plan or accommodations for children who don't test well for one reason or other, Matter of fact over the years it has gotten worse as now we have no other tests because tests such as ITBS have been eliminated. My suspicion is that so parents like myself can't compare the scores and say "what's wrong with this picture?"
My oldest son graduated from high school in 2007, and continued to be a solid 3.0 student all the way through. He worked full time, was ******* County Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year and employee of the year on his job. After graduation he obtained his CDL drivers license and drove truck on an asphalt crew for the summer.
At the completion of his summer job the conversation came up again about what he wanted to do with his life, what were his goals? His life long desire was to be a U.S. Marine and in December of 2007 he left for the U.S. Marine Corp boot camp. Based on his ASVAB scores my son was assigned a MOS classification of 0651....computer programmer/networking specialist. As of this writing he has finished his classes and graduated with a 93% GPA and has been assigned to Marine base ***** to work on computers there and at the *******.
Now remember, this is the same young man that failed WASL, not once but TWICE !! The system was trying to tell my son that he didn't have to tools to be successful aka a "failure". What this tells and proves to me is something I have long suspected; WASL is not a good measure of what a child is capable of doing.
Yet, I still have 2 more children I'm trying to get through the school system. My son with Dyslexia causes me much anxiety as he is also aware that the current system is setting him up for failure and has even said to me "Mom, what am I going to do? Without a diploma I can't even get into the military these days". That statement breaks my heart as I know he's right. I also know based on my personal history with WASL, that it does not measure what a child is capable of accomplishing. However it can sure stop them in their tracks from seeking out and fulfilling their life's dreams and goals. My oldest son is proof of what is possible when not stopped by one flawed inconsistent high stakes test. WASL is supposed to be an instrument of measure of what a child can do.... I ask, an instrument of what ? !
My own experiences with my children tells me all the story I need, I'm voting for change...I'm voting For Mr. Dorn.
Posted by: Mom in Spokane on October 23, 2008 09:31 AMJust because Gregoire has allowed a 32.2+ billion dollar state deficit we should keep on keeping on with a clearly FLAWED test. If this were a bridge ready to collapse would not you fix it? Humm! But, you will gladly shut out the young from a quality education?
The Fordham Foundation warned WA quite a few years ago that we have standards that not only bring nothing of much worth to the table, but we have standards that actually do more harm than good.
1) Washington should return to the drawing board in English.
2) The math standards are seriously deficient.
3) Science is harmed by the technical and knowledge shortcomings of its creators.
4) World history standards prepare students for nothing.
5) US history is comparable to a half-empty glass of academic hemlock and standards that are not essential in any way, shape, or form.
Who are you trying to kid? What is reasonable about that? We have spent over $2 BILLION on this CANCEROUS project called WASL!
WA children deserve appropriate educations! Thanks to Dr. Bergeson my children are NO longer in the FLAWED public school system.
Do not forget, Dr. Semler told the Legislature that it would cost a million dollars to implement the MAP tests. Other states use the NAEP aka MAP tests for their state tests. So it is NOT true that WA can not use MAP as their state accountability test for NCLB. And as *EducationAgiTate* mentioned WASL is NOT a standardized nor norm-referenced or a reliable test. It IS a peculiar UNAPPROVED and FLAWED test.
RANDY DORN gets My VOTE!
Just because Gregoire has allowed a 32.2+ billion dollar state deficit we should keep on keeping on with a clearly FLAWED test. If this were a bridge ready to collapse would not you fix it? Humm! But, you will gladly shut out the young from a quality education?
The Fordham Foundation warned WA quite a few years ago that we have standards that not only bring nothing of much worth to the table, but we have standards that actually do more harm than good.
1) Washington should return to the drawing board in English.
2) The math standards are seriously deficient.
3) Science is harmed by the technical and knowledge shortcomings of its creators.
4) World history standards prepare students for nothing.
5) US history is comparable to a half-empty glass of academic hemlock and standards that are not essential in any way, shape, or form.
Who are you trying to kid? What is reasonable about that? We have spent over $2 BILLION on this CANCEROUS project called WASL!
WA children deserve appropriate educations! Thanks to Dr. Bergeson my children are NO longer in the FLAWED public school system.
Do not forget, Dr. Semler told the Legislature that it would cost a million dollars to implement the MAP tests. Other states use the NAEP aka MAP tests for their state tests. So it is NOT true that WA can not use MAP as their state accountability test for NCLB. And as *EducationAgiTate* mentioned WASL is NOT a standardized nor norm-referenced or a reliable test. It IS a peculiar UNAPPROVED and FLAWED test.
RANDY DORN gets My VOTE!
"But virtually every state that uses an off-the-shelf exam (see: Deleware, Illinois, Maine) has found that these tests need to be augmented with custom material to reflect their state standards. They report that they end up spending as much or more than It having a test custom-designed for your state, like the WASL."
Can you please tell me where you are getting your information from?
As far as the cost of WASL goes, I have read many different amounts printed, so I did some research myself.
In 2003 I wrote to Michael Middleton, assessment manager at OSPI . I simple asked him if he could clarify the cost of WASL for me. He wrote back that the cost was about $18 per test booklet. I communicated further with him to clarify that each tested subject equates to one test booklet. A student that tests in all 4 subjects would cost $72. According to Mr. Middleton this cost includes test development, printing, transporting and scoring..
Some new developments have occurred since 2003. Now we have student re-takes, summer classes devoted to WASL prep, and tests must now be kept and stored for several months to accommodate parent viewing (tests used to be destroyed immediately after scoring).
So when the Seattle Times and PI reported about a year ago that the cost would jump to $112 mosly based on a contract renewel with the scoring company, I believe it.
I believe that the contract you refer to is one of many contracts relating to WASL
I also have seen my district and others mislead the public about the cost of WASL. Three years ago the Edmonds School District had WASL information posted on their web site stating that the cost of WASL was about $24 per student. I wrote to Superintendent Nick Brossoit and requested that the information be removed since it was not accurate and showed my proof. He agreed, and he told me that the $24 was only the district's portion of total WASL cost.
Even though a distinct WASL spokesperson was involved in this conversation and knows that $24 is not accurate, I have been told that she is still misleading parents when they ask at WASL information meetings.
Posted by: Whole Lotta Rosie on October 23, 2008 05:33 PMI don't see my old Junior high science teacher, Rep. Mike Carrell on that list of Republicans supporting Dorn. I admire and respect Mike, and would go with whomever he recommends.
Does anyone know if Mike has made an endorsement?
Posted by: Pee Wee Herman, Community Organizer on October 28, 2008 02:35 PM