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Frequently Asked Questions about State Testing
Got a question about state testing? Check out some of the most frequently asked questions about the state's testing system. Still can't find the answer you need? Please e-mail StateTesting@k12.wa.us
- I heard the WASL is being replaced. Is there still state testing?
- Why are we required to do state testing?
- What are the new state tests called?
- When do the new tests take effect?
- Why are you replacing the WASL?
- What is different about these tests compared to the WASL?
- What is the schedule for online testing?
- Doesn’t shortening the tests make them easier?
- Does my son or daughter still need to pass a state test to graduate from high school?
- How will the new testing system affect students receiving special education services?
- Won’t replacing the tests cost more money?
- What subjects are covered in our state tests?
- What types of questions appear on state tests?
- What makes our state tests different from other standardized tests?
- Who writes our state testing questions?
- What steps are taken to ensure that state testing questions do not contain any cultural bias?
- Who scores our state tests?
- How are student responses scored?
- How are passing scores determined?
- Are standards reset each year?
- What is a good score on our state tests?
- What steps are taken to make sure that the scoring of open-ended items is valid and reliable?
- How are test results reported?
- What happens if I refuse to have my child take state tests?
- Can I request to view my student’s test booklet?
- Can I appeal my student’s score after looking at the test booklet?
- How are test results used?
- Is a listing of school and/or district state testing scores available?
- What does it take for a student to do well on state testing?
- How do students with disabilities participate in state testing?
- How do students with limited English proficiency participate in state testing?
- Do private-school students or home-schooled students have to take state tests?
Q:I heard the WASL is being replaced. Is there still state testing?
A: Yes.
Q:Why are we required to do state testing?
A: Because of state and federal law.
Our state assessment system was implemented in response to the state’s Education Reform Law of 1993, which required that the assessment system to:
- Test all public school students across the state, including students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency
- Be administered annually in selected grades
- Measure performance based on the Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs), the state’s learning standards
- Report on the performance of individual students, schools and districts
- Serve as one basis of accountability for students, schools, and districts
Our state tests also fulfill the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. NCLB requires annual assessments in reading and math for students in grades 3-8 and high school. Students also must be tested annually in science in an elementary school grade, a middle school grade and a high school (10-12) grade. This requirement is fulfilled in Washington by testing students in grades 5, 8 and high school.
Q:What are the new state tests called?
A: The grades 3-8 tests are called the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP). The high school tests will be called the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE). These tests are under development and will incorporate the state’s academic learning requirements.
Q:When do the new tests take effect?
A: The Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) will first be given in spring 2010.
Q:Why are you replacing the WASL?
A: Superintendent Randy Dorn, who came into office in January 2009, believes the state assessment system should be a less complex and more responsive system of measuring students’ progress. For more information, see our June 2009 press releases (June 11 and June 18).
Q:What is different about these tests compared to the WASL?
A: The tests are shorter and online versions will be phased in over the next few years.
Q:What is the schedule for online testing?
A: Beginning in spring 2010, about 25 percent of students in grades 6-8 will take reading and math online. The rest of the grades will be phased in during the next few years. See the complete online testing schedule.
Q:Doesn’t shortening the tests make them easier?
A: No. The entire testing system will be much more efficient, but the tests, still based on our state learning standards, will continue to be valid and reliable.
Q:Does my son or daughter still need to pass a state test to graduate from high school?
A: Yes. No matter what the state test is called, the graduation requirements that go along with it have not changed. If a student passed one or more content areas on the WASL, he/she would not have to take the HSPE in that specific subject. For example, a high school student in 2009 passes the reading WASL, but not the writing WASL. That student would need to take the writing HSPE but not the reading.
Q:How will the new testing system affect students receiving special education services?
A: Superintendent Randy Dorn has convened a work group to study and to recommend changes to the Washington Alternate Assessment System and other alternatives assessments for special needs students. For those students unable to test on a computer, a paper-and-pencil test will still be available.
Q:Won’t replacing the tests cost more money?
A: No. We do expect some additional costs up front, but not over the life of the five-year assessment contract that went into effect in October 2008. School districts, however, should see savings in time and money in regards to administering the tests.
Q:. What subjects are covered on our state tests?
A: The MSP and HSPE are based on the state’s learning standards contained in the Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs). Students are tested in:
- Reading: Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10
- Writing: Grades 4, 7 and 10
- Math: Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10
- Science: Grades 5, 8 and 10
Q:What types of questions appear on state tests?
A: The MSP and HSPE tests are much shorter than the WASL and include multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Four-point essay questions have been eliminated on reading, math and science tests. This change allows students to show they are able to solve the problems, while not being scored on their writing ability on the math, reading and science tests.
Q:What makes our state tests different from other standardized tests?
A: The MSP and HSPE are unlike more familiar standardized tests, which measure students' performance against other students. Our state tests measures students' performance against a set of learning standards, not against their peers. Think of the MSP/HSPE like the test you take to earn a driver’s license. It doesn’t matter what other drivers score, only what you scored and that you have the driving skills and knowledge of traffic laws to “meet the standard” and get a license.
Q:Who writes our state testing questions?
A: Washington educators helped build our state tests and continue to refine them. They review every question for content quality and its relation to the state’s learning standards.
Q:What steps are taken to ensure that our state testing questions do not contain cultural bias?
A: Every state testing question goes through extensive analysis by a Bias and Cultural Fairness Committee of specially trained educators and community members before inclusion. Before any question is placed on a state test, each question goes through review to ensure there is no cultural bias in the exam. Each question also is given a trial run, or is piloted, with students to determine whether the question poses special difficulty for students from different backgrounds.
Q:Who scores our state tests?
A: Hundreds of people score our state tests. All scorers are monitored closely by Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), the state’s testing operations contractor. State testing scorers must have, at a minimum, a four-year college degree. All scorers are monitored daily to ensure their scores meet criteria of accuracy and consistency set by Washington educators. Scorers who are unable to score according to these criteria are dismissed.
Q:How are student responses scored?
A: Reading, math and science: All one-point multiple-choice questions are machine scored. Short-answer questions that are worth two are scored by trained raters who use scoring guides defined by Washington educators.
Writing: The same scoring guides are used every year for all of the writing questions. Scorers are trained to set aside their own personal opinions about what score a test should receive, so that student responses are scored consistently and according to the criteria determined by Washington educators and Data Recognition Corporation.
Q:How are passing scores determined?
A: This process is called “standard setting” because students must meet a certain performance standard to pass. Setting standards for the MSP and HSPE is a thoughtful and involved process incorporating the feedback of many people. First, a standard-setting panel for a state testing subject and grade level is convened. Members include teachers, parents and community members representing Washington’s geographically and ethnically diverse population.
The panelists for each content area review "performance-level descriptors," which are the written descriptions of what students should know and be able to do in that subject and grade. They also look at the test itself to see how many points a student should earn on the test to meet the “performance-level descriptors.” The panel’s work is done in rounds. After the first round of deliberations, panelists discuss each others’ perspectives and then conduct a second round of review. A third round is done before the panel, as a whole, makes final recommendations.
Next, an “articulation” committee is brought together to ensure the suggested standards relate sensibly to one another across the different grade levels. The articulation committee members represent standard-setting committee members from different subjects and grades. The articulation committee reviews the standard-setting committee’s recommendations and can make its own set of recommendations.
Both the recommendations from the standard-setting panel and articulation committee are forwarded to the State Board of Education for review and adoption. Once the State Board of Education decides which recommendation to adopt, that is the performance a student must achieve in order to “meet standard” or pass the MSP and HSPE.
Q:Are standards reset each year?
A: No. Once the State Board of Education adopts a set of standards for a state test, the state carries that expected level of performance from year to year. Each year a new edition of the test is developed. Most of the questions on the test are new, but some appeared in subsequent years. The repeated items are “anchor” items that are used to link the performance on one year’s edition of our state test to earlier editions of the test. This uses a procedure called “equating.” By equating the current year’s state test to previous state tests given in previous years, the performance standard can be maintained over time.
Q:What is a good score on our state tests?
A: A student’s performance on the reading, math and science MSP and HSPE is reported using “scale scores.” Scale scores are three-digit numbers that are used to place the student into one of four levels: Advanced (Level 4), Proficient (Level 3), Basic (Level 2) and Below Basic (Level 1). A scale score of 400 is assigned to a student who has just barely met the state standard; this score is at the lower end of Level 3. Students scoring in Level 4 are said to have exceeded the state standard. Students with scores in Level 1 or Level 2 have not met standard.
Students generally have to achieve a score that represents approximately 60 to 65 percent of the points possible on each test to pass. That score or above means they have met the required standard for proficiency in that particular subject.
Q:What steps are taken to make sure that the scoring of open-ended items is valid and reliable?
A: The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) uses rigorous methods to ensure that the scoring process yields valid and reliable results. Valid scoring means that a scorer assigns the same score to a student response as would be assigned by an expert panel of Washington educators. Reliable scoring means that different scorers consistently assign the same score to a student response.
The following quality control measures are used when open-ended questions are scored on the MSP and HSPE. Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, the MSP and HSPE reading, math and science no longer have long-answer, four-point questions. Only the writing tests have extended response questions:
- Item-by-item scoring: Teams of scorers are trained to score responses to a single open-ended state testing question and all responses to that question are scored by the team. Once all students’ responses to that question have been scored, the team is trained to score a different test question. This process adds to the scoring consistency, as scorers need only keep a single scoring guide in mind as they score. This approach also protects against scorer biases that could come into play if entire test booklets were scored by a single scorer.
- Double-scoring: All writing responses in high school are scored twice to verify that scoring is consistent and aligned to the scoring rubrics.
- Supervisors Reread Scored Student Work: In addition to double-scoring, each scoring supervisor rereads an average of five percent of the papers from scorers under their supervision every day. If a supervisor discovers that a scorer begins to assign scores that do not match the scoring guidelines, the supervisor consults with the scoring director and together they retrain that scorer, using the original training materials. This on-the-spot checking helps keep the scoring consistent. If a scorer has drifted from the scoring guidelines, the scores he/she has recently-assigned are removed and those papers are reinserted into the queue to be rescored. Scorers who prove unable to score consistently after retraining are dismissed from scoring.
- Blindly Inserted Validity Papers: A "validity paper" is a student response that has been pre-approved by Washington content (reading, writing, math and science) specialists as being a clear example of a score point. Multiple validity papers are blindly inserted into a scorer's assignment of student responses to be scored. Scoring supervisors receive a daily report of how well scorers' decisions matched with the pre-determined score on the validity papers. Any variation from the scoring criteria is addressed immediately.
- Protocols to Handle Unique Responses: Scorers are trained to only assign a score to student responses that are consistent with the examples provided in training. If a scorer encounters a student response that is unique, novel or otherwise unfamiliar, the scorer seeks advice from the supervisor. If the response is new to the Supervisor, the Scoring Director intervenes. At this point, the Scoring Director can decide either that the response is merely a nuance of what is already described in the scoring rubric or that the response is truly unique. If the response is a nuance, all the scorers are notified and re-trained on that particular type of response; if the response is one that has not yet been encountered, OSPI content staff intervene and determine what score should be assigned, after which scorers are re-trained.
- Communication between OSPI and the scoring contractor: OSPI representatives are on site at Data Recognition Corporation facilities during training and scoring to monitor the quality processes and to address any content questions that may surface.
Q:How are test results reported?
A: Results are reported for individual students, schools, districts and the state according to four performance levels defined by the State Board of Education:
- Level 4: Advanced
- Level 3: Proficient
- Level 2: Basic
- Level 1: Below Basic
Every family of a student who takes a state test will receive a score report. Each school/district decides how families will receive this report (e.g. mail or parent/teacher conference). Check with your school or district to find out how you will receive your student’s results.
Students in grades 10, 11 and 12 who take a state test in the spring will get two score reports: One in early June for reading, writing and math, and a second report in September that includes the results from the science HSPE and a look at school, school district and state scores.
Q:What happens if a parent refuses to have his/her child take a state test?
A: A student in grades 3-8 who doesn’t take a state test may miss out on having any learning issues identified sooner rather than later. These students also may miss out on the academic help paid for by the state and federal government; this help is often attached to an individual student test scores. High school students who do not take and pass a state assessment in reading and writing will not graduate.
Q:Can a student’s scored booklet be reviewed?
A: Parents/Guardians may request to review their child’s test booklet. See state guidelines and forms.
Q:Can a parent/guardian appeal a student’s score after looking at the test booklet?
A: Parents/guardians may only appeal a score on a high school assessment that is required for graduation: WASL, HSPE, WAAS-DAW, WAAS-Portfolio or Collection of Evidence. A score appeal results in OSPI review of particular scoring errors, such as errors on open-ended items, incorrect score calculations, mistakes affecting erasures, test labeling, and lightly marked bubbles on multiple choice items. Read the state guidelines. An appeal form will be provided when the parent/guardian reviews the test.
Q:How are state test results used?
- Improvements in teaching and learning
Parents, students, and educators use the results to:
- Follow student progress
- Identify strengths, weaknesses and gaps in curriculum and instruction
- Fine tune curriculum alignment with the statewide standards
- Identify students who may need additional help
Note: Your child's state testing results should not be the first time you know if your child is mastering the state’s learning standards. In fact, many teachers now grade daily student work using the state's 1-4 scoring scale.
- School and district accountability
Under No Child Left Behind, the state reports on the Adequate Yearly Progress of students in schools and districts based on WASL results.
- Student accountability
Students are required to pass a state assessment in reading and writing as one graduation requirement for a high school diploma. Students are given multiple opportunities, if necessary, to pass the tests. Alternatives also are available for students who have tried the exam at least twice. Students also must meet local requirements for high school graduation (for example, completion of required coursework).
Q:Is a listing of school and/or district state testing scores available?
A: Yes. The state has an extensive Web site for the public to view all elements of state testing at our Washington State Report Card.
Q:What does it take for a student to do well on a state test?
A: Students do well on state tests when they come to class regularly and do their schoolwork. It’s also important for educators to use a curriculum that emphasizes the state academic standards and regularly ask students to think, communicate and solve problems. "Drill-and-kill exercises" and fill-in-the-blank "test prep" a few weeks before taking the test aren’t effective.
Q:How do students receiving special education services or students with a Section 504 Plan participate in state tests?
A: A student's IEP team or Section 504 Team must determine annually how a student with disabilities will participate in WASL in each subject scheduled for assessment. This information must be documented in the student's IEP and should be documented in the student's 504 Plan. The team may determine that the student can take their grade-level test with or without accommodations or may be eligible to participate in the Washington Alternate Assessment System. Guidelines to assist IEP Teams and 504 teams in making decisions regarding how each student will participate in state testing are available in the Guidelines for Participation and Testing Accommodations for Special Populations in State Assessment Programs. For more information about the state’s Alternate Assessment program, please email waas@k12.wa.us.
Q:How do students who are English Language Learners (ELL) participate state testing?
A: All students who are ELL must participate in all state testing scheduled for their grades regardless of the number of years they have been in the U.S. The only exception is students who are in their first year of enrollment in U.S. schools. These students are not required to participate in reading or writing tests, but must take the math and science exams. In addition to participating state testing, ELL students must take annually the Washington Language Proficiency Test II (WLPT-II) in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Q:Do private-school students or home-schooled students have to participate in state testing?
A: No, private-school and home-schooled students are exempt from state testing. Some private and home-schooled students, however, do choose to take the exam. Home-schooled students who want a diploma from a Washington public high school diploma must complete all state and local graduation requirements.
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