Students in Auburn and throughout Washington state sat for the High School Proficiency Exam for the first time this week.

The HSPE, which began Tuesday with the reading exam, has replaced the WASL as the state’s assessment for graduation. Writing followed on the 17th and 18th. The proficiency exams will occur again on April 13 in math and April 15 in science.

One of State Superintendent Randy Dorn’s top priorities when he took office in January 2009 was to replace the WASL. He did so with the HSPE and the grades 3-8 Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), which will first be given in May.

By making the exams shorter and tying them to technology, Dorn said, he has met two of his main testing objectives.

Both the HSPE and the MSP, made up of multiple choice and short-answer questions, are shorter than the WASL, needing only one session to administer, not two. The writing exam, which includes two essay questions, will take two sessions to administer.

“The assessments are all designed to be shorter in duration, consisting of multiple choice and short answer questions, shorter than on the WASL,” said Kip Herren, Superintendent of the Auburn School District. “The writing exam contains two essays and will take two sessions to administer. Reading and writing will be done earlier because it takes longer to score.”

“By shortening the tests, it leaves more time for classroom instruction and it helps alleviate the common complaint of testing fatigue. Our academic standards have not changed, so the exams are still as rigorous as ever. But we feel this is a more common-sense approach to testing our students,” Dorn said.

For the first time, some students will take their tests online using computerized forms of the tests. In a pilot program starting in May, 25 percent of the students in grades 6-8 will take the reading and math MSP exams online. The online rollout plan calls for high school and fifth grade to be added in the 2010-2011 school year.

Although the HSPE is new, the state assessment graduation requirements aren’t. That means students who do not pass the reading WASL will need to take the reading HSPE as a graduation requirement. A student who has previously passed all the state exams can skip the HSPE.

High school students will start to see more changes to the HSPE in the coming years when end-of-course exams debut in math in 2011 and in science in 2012.

The math end-of-course exams, which will assess the new high school math learning standards for the first time, will be available in Algebra I/Integrated 1 and Geometry/Integrated 2. The exams will be given during three weeks at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

The state Legislature is expected to direct the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to begin the development of an end-of-course biology exam for the 2011-12 school year and possibly additional end-of-course exams in earth science and physical science in future years. New high school science learning standards will be tested for the first time in spring 2012.

OSPI will provide more information on the math and science end-of-course exams after the end of the current 2010 legislative session.

“One difference is that these tests will not have Strand data,” Herren said. “That means that information we get back on the test will no longer have value for us to look at trends in math and reading that help us identify curriculum priorities for individual students and tell us that the kids meet standards or don’t.

For information on changes to the state exams, visit www.WAtesting.com, OSPI’s main entry page for state testing. Additional handouts on state testing and graduation requirements can be found at www.k12.wa.us/Resources.