High School Proficiency Exam
Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) for high school students is being replaced by a new test, the High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE).
As the name suggests, the HSPE measures a student’s proficiency of basic skills. Students in the classes of 2010-2012 must pass a reading and writing assessment to be eligible to graduate. If students have already passed a specific section of the WASL (i.e., reading)they will not have to take the HSPE in that content area.
Students in the Class of 2013 are the first to be required to pass reading, writing, math and science assessments.
The HSPE is shorter than the WASL with the reading, math, and science sections taking one day each instead of two. For now, the HSPE writing test still takes two days. Students will be able to take the HSPE online in the future.