Real Change, "Testing and Terror: the high-stakes testing of the WASL further marginalizes disadvantaged students," October 25-31 2006. by Dinorah Flores

"For young people, school should be a place of growth, not a house of horrors."

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Dinorah Flores is 12th grader at the Center School and an active youth member of Seattle Young People's Project. She is pictured above with Alphie Wily (left) and Kaydy Souriya (center)





National School Boards Association's School Board News, "' Haunted School' portrays horrors of high-stakes testing," November 21st 2006

    "Students in Seattle unhappy about standardized testing created a "haunted high school of WASL horrors" just before Halloween to showcase the "frightening aspects" of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.
    Students dressed as zombies and ghouls to show how the exam is unfair to minority students, lower-income students, English language learners, and students with disabilities.
    One scene showed how the state cut school funding and spent $71 million to develop the test.
    Beginning in 2008, students will have to pass the WASL to get a diploma.
    The haunted high school was the first of many efforts by the Seattle Young People's Project (SYPP) to mobilize youths against high-stakes testing and lobby for a state law to eliminate the test as a graduation requirement.