The WASL is a work in progress. Although the state has administered the Washington Assessment of Student Learning since 1997, it continues to tweak existing parts and develop new sections to test more subjects. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, who oversees the test's administration, also is working to boost public confidence in how the exam is scored. The WASL measures how well students apply their knowledge of detailed standards in reading, writing, listening and math.
Teachers say the test is tough.
It's split into seven or eight untimed sessions that typically last 25 to 100 minutes each, depending on the subject. Students usually take one or two sessions a day during the state testing window of April 23-May11. Confusing questions have been rewritten or eliminated, and questions deemed too difficult for fourth-graders have been nixed. Instead of taking the math test in two long sessions, this year's fourth-graders will tackle it in three shorter sessions. Bergeson is arranging for National Computer Systems, the contractor that scores the WASL, to train 190 Washington elementary school teachers in how to score the fourth-grade writing exam this summer.