October 13, 2006
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
Old Capital Building
P.O. Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98387
Governor Christine Gregoire
Legislative Building
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Attorney General Rob McKenna
P.O. Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100
Bethel School District Board Members
516 E. 176th St.
Spanaway, WA 98387
Mr. Jon Huinker, Director of State Assessments
Pearson Educational Measurement
2510 North Dodge Street
Iowa City, IA 52245-9945
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sullivan
700 Stewart Street, Suite 5220
Seattle, WA 98101-1271
Dear Addressees:
I am writing this letter to share my concerns regarding the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) and the aligned education reform.
I received a WASL Score Report for my son DV that was identifiable with his name and a State Student Identification (SSID) number, 2116131662, which I was told by the OSPI Assessment Department on October 5, 2006 is a WASL identification number. The score report noted that for the subject tests: Reading, Math and Science, “Your child refused to take the test in this subject.” This is a false statement about DV. DV is a private school student enrolled at the Summit Learning Center of Academy Northwest, which is affiliated with Academy Northwest & Family Academy. The Academy is a Washington State accredited private school. Aside from this, DV was only enrolled in Band, Ceramics and PE during the 2005-2006 school year at CMJH within the BSD.
DV was never offered a test; therefore, he was not afforded the opportunity to refuse. The current WASL Score Report suggests that DV was defiant and noncompliant with a teacher directive. The WASL Score Report must be corrected immediately.
In my attempts to resolve this issue the following has occurred.
- October 2, 2006, I contacted the OSPI Assessment Department (Jennifer) and was told that the school district is responsible for the false statement.
- October 4, 2006, I contacted school district assessment department director Linda Dugger and was informed that OSPI is responsible for the false “verbiage.”
- October 4, 2006, I contacted the OSPI Assessment Department (Tanie) and informed them that the District is claiming OSPI is responsible. I was told that Joe Wilhoft is claiming the Contractor (Pearson Educational Measurement) is to blame.
- On October 5, 2006, I spoke with State Assessment Director Jon Huinker at NCS Pearson and informed him that OSPI is claiming Pearson is responsible for the false statement. Mr. Huinker shared he would contact Joe Wilhoft and get back to me on the matter.
I have expressed through letters and documentation my objections relating to my children taking part in WASL testing or WASL data collection. My son, DV is an individual with a disability and my son DV is a general education student. The current WASL testing is in violation of Title 45, Section 46 of the federal guidelines protecting human subjects from experimental investigations. The current contractor hired to “assist the Superintendent in the implementation of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning” is NCS Pearson. The funding sources are “both state and federal sources” including “federal dollars…from IDEA B, CFDA# 84.027 and the No Child Left Behind Act #84.369A.” Title 45, Section 46 reads
b) Unless otherwise required by department or agency heads, research activities in which the only involvement of human subjects will be in one or more of the following categories are exempt from this policy:
(2) Research involving the use of educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures or observation of public behavior, unless:
(i) information obtained is recorded in such a manner that human subjects can be identified, directly or through identifiers linked to the subjects; and (ii) any disclosure of the human subjects' responses outside the research could reasonably place the subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the subjects' financial standing, employability, or reputation.
The Bergeson Administration has developed an accountability system that is designed to investigate a learning model that relates information “to thinking skills and to their integration in curriculum” (OSPI, 1998). The Administration admits in a public document (1998) that “Research in three areas—cognitive psychology, information theory, and brain research….information has not been analyzed, synthesized, and developed for use in student teaching and learning, it will provide the critical skills that will prepare students for the requirements of the twenty-first century.” The Administration furthers their justification by referring to this unproven method of teaching and learning as “the knowledge and pedagogy that will assist Washington students to achieve Goals 3 and 4 of educational reform.” Even though the State recognizes the unproven method of teaching, the Bergeson Administration facilitates the process to implement and disseminate professional development of the teaching and learning method through state and federal funded contracts, training workshops and institutions, and grant awards with non-profit organizations, school districts and other educational organizations.
In the 1998 public document, the Administration claims “contacts with Carkhuff Thinking Systems personnel emerged as the strongest work on skills for the twenty-first century and process-based education.” Carkhuff Thinking System’s involvement with the Washington State reform was further evidenced in an OSPI letter dated January 23, 1998, which noted, “The Carkhuff conceptual framework and materials were used by the state’s Commission on Student Learning to plan and implement education reform.”
The current Washington Assessment of Student Learning is a diagnostic tool for scoring a student’s attending and responding skills, through telling, showing and doing. Carkhuff defines these skills as the first two steps in “our interpersonal skills development of the learning process” (Carkhuff & Berenson, 1981, p. 161).
A student’s ability to attend and respond according to the Washington State criteria, which is framed in accordance with Carkhuff’s interpersonal skills diagnostic theory and implemented through the ROPES model (pedagogy), determines whether a student is achieving academic success. Students must attend to their learning material in order to demonstrate their higher-order thinking skill level.
Terry Bergeson, Robert Carkhuff, Shirley McCune and Andrew Griffin have conspired for over 13 years to implement the Carkhuff conceptual framework into the public school system. I am providing with this letter a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Carkhuff’s Conceptual Framework Implementation in Washington State Public Schools 1993 to Present.” The presentation does not include all the evidence gathered and available for submission in a court of law. In presenting to you a clear outline of the Bergeson Administration’s conspiracy to fraud an entire population of citizens and victimize our children, I am hoping that you will take immediate action, short of lawsuits or court mandates, to stop the advancement of the Carkhuff framework through Washington State mandated policy.
Students are being used as identifiable human subjects and punished for not performing at a level that supports the Carkhuff ROPES model as an effective tool to teach a skill. Federal law forbids the use of identifiable human subjects in educational research. The conspiracy of two or more people to oppress another person is a federal crime punishable under U.S. Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 13, 241, Conspiracy Against Rights.
Sincerely,
Nancy Vernon
