Letter+to+Senator+Lassa

 **Introduction to [|Letter to Senator Lassa] **   The No Child Left Behind legislation, meant to raise teacher and school district accountability, has caused some unanticipated consequences, predominately the perception of a narrowing curriculum and increased focus of teaching to the test. When I heard Wisconsin was moving toward adopting a new accountability measure, I felt compelled to participate in the conversation by contacting Senator Lassa. I urged her to support an accountability measure that embraced the following three characteristics: ability to give timely feedback, growth-oriented, and non-invasive to instructional time.  **Reflection ** By contacting Senator Lassa I received a couple of pieces of new information, most notably that the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) anticipates implementation of the new assessment model during the 2014-2015 school year. Senator Lassa’s response outlined the DPI’s involvement in a consortium of 35 states to adopt a new accountability model. I imagine that the collaboration is a financially efficient way to adopt new assessments and the timing of the Common Core Standards supports the move to common standards. Although I am still hopeful that Wisconsin will adopt a testing measure that meets the three criteria I prioritized, the timeline for implementation is further in the future than I initially anticipated. Overall, I am impressed by Senator Lassa’s initiative to research an issue of which she was not fully aware. Consequently, I felt like my correspondence was meaningful as it raised Senator Lassa’s awareness of the issue. This artifact demonstrates my interest in communicating with state legislators with regards to advocating for policies that best serve students. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Administrator Standard #7; Content Guidelines A, B, D, F <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Administrator Standard #3; Content Guidelines E, I