Assessment in General

The Washington State Assessment System (WSAS) is composed of three broad programs: statewide standardized testing; classroom-based assessments; and assessment staff development. The statewide testing program focuses on the Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs), which are Washington’s content standards, and provides broad achievement indicators for the state, districts, schools, and individual students. The state also supports the development of classroom-based assessments, tied to the EALRs, which help guide day to day instruction. Under the leadership of curriculum specialists, prototypical tasks and items intended to model good assessments are developed and disseminated to local districts. The final component of the system is an assessment staff development program. Through a network of regional assessment centers, teams of local assessment trainers are provided training and materials designed to assist their own work training classroom teachers and principals in sound assessment practices.

There are three components to the statewide testing program. The Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), a set of standards based tests, is at the center of the program. Two other components, a series of norm-referenced tests and the National Assessment of Educational Progress, are important to the goal of having a balanced and valid system for the measurement of student achievement.

The WASL currently is comprised of a series of criterion-reference tests in reading, writing, listening, and mathematics at grade 4, 7, and 10. In addition, science tests in grades 8 and 10 are in a field testing stage of development. These standards based assessments incorporate three item types: selected response (multiple choice); short constructed response; and extended constructed response. Performance standards for the assessments in reading, writing, listening, and mathematics have been set using an item mapping technique after that developed by researchers at CTB/ McGraw-Hill.

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) at grades three and six, and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED) at grade nine, comprise the norm-referenced component of the statewide testing program. These measures assure that the state collects achievement information about the basic skills that provide the foundation for the application and problem-solving skills found in the EALRs. The state level National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in reading, writing, mathematics, and science provide an important source of independent evidence for the validity of the WASL assessments while providing policymakers comparisons between Washington achievement and that of the nation and most other states.