While HSPE and MSP don’t quite roll off the tongue the way WASL used to, the state’s new standardized test does have its advantages, officials from the Kent and Tahoma school districts said.
The High School Proficiency Exam, also known as the HSPE, is the new test students must pass in order to graduate from high school. Local teens wrapped up testing last week.
Students in third through eighth grade will take the Measurement of Student Progress in May.
What local district officials have discovered is there are more similarities to the previous test than there are differences.
Dawn Wakeley, associate director of teaching and learning for Tahoma, said the way teachers prepared students for the test was much the same as it has been in the past.
“What typically happened is that schools identified two to three hours (for the test),” Wakeley said. “Most kids would finish in a couple of hours on the old test. Only, we did it in chunks. This year we’re doing it in one chunk. They’re finding that as they collapse the test down, sitting for one test is taking a little bit longer.”
Previously, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, also known as the WASL would be over two days on each subject of reading, writing, math and science.
Now, with the exception of writing, each subject is condensed into one day.
“The main thing, it was fewer testing days, but the tests themselves, each day took longer … than OSPI expected,” said Kent Assistant Superintendent Bob Isenberg. “Other than that, I’m not really sure of the difference.”
This year, testing took place on five days in March and April, whereas with the WASL it took eight days.
“We’re not doing anything different because it’s one day instead of two days,” Wakeley said. “One thing that is different, though, not because the length changed but because the test is on the new math standards. For elementary, middle and junior high the math standards are different and that feels a bit different.”
High school students, however, will not be tested on the new math standards next year.
Part of the math standards change allows students to take the test once and if they don’t pass it, they are not required to re-test, instead they can meet standard by completing two credits of math, Isenberg explained.
“My concern is are they really sure they’re going to earn those two credits,” Isenberg said. “There are very kids who don’t walk because of math.”
Isenberg said the early feedback he received from staff on the HSPE was that “people were pleased.”
“They said it went well,” he said. “There was very good attendance at the reading and writing. They’re very happy with that, especially with the sophomores. Several schools made a point of saying the kids took it really seriously, so, that’s good.”
The emphasis for results intially, Wakeley said, is on 12th graders.
“We do a special indication on any test we’re sending in for a senior and the state is committed to doing early scoring of those … and getting scores back to the district by the end of May,” she said. “School districts will have a chance to notify parents.”
Test results for the rest of the students will come later in the summer.
Next, districts are focused on the MSP, Isenberg said.
This is where the fewer number of testing days can make a difference, he explained.
“For elementary, stamina testing was really a concern, so, I think that’s going to help,” Isenberg said. “The multiple choice (for that age) is a bit more of a concern because that’s a more sophisticated test taking technique.”
In that area, he said, the WASL had the advantage of allowing kids to explain their answers, write out or draw the steps.
Once the tests are all done and the scores come back, Isenberg said, teachers can look at how to help individual students who and overall school accountability also remains in play.
