Students are asked to show work and explain their thinking on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Questions consist of multiple-choice, short-answer and extended-response.

 

Each multiple-choice item on the assessment is scored 0 (incorrect) or 1 (correct) and contributes one point to the total assessment score. Approximately one-half of the total points on the WASL come from multiple-choice items.

 

Short-answer items require students to generate their own answers which may be a few words, numbers, or diagrams to several sentences. Student responses on short-answer items receive 0, 1, or 2 points based on a scoring rubric developed specifically for each item. About one-fourth of the points on the WASL come from short-answer items.

 

Extended-response items require a more developed response on the part of the student.The individual item may ask for several short paragraphs as a response. Students work receives 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 points based on specific scoring criteria developed for each item. Virtually every extended-response item will require high-level thinking skills. Previously students have written minimal responses (3 words instead of 3 paragraphs). To be successful, it is necessary to "make one's thinking visible". Good performance requires practice in writing full, well-supported responses. About one-fourth of the points on the WASL will come from extended-response items.

 

For example, in a 42-item test, 27 multiple-choice items would be worth 27 points, 11 short-answer items would be worth 22 points, and 4 extended-response items would be worth 16 points, making a total of 65 possible points. Multiple-choice items would account for 42% of the total score, while the constructed-response items (both short-answer and extended-response items) would account for 58% of the total points. This distribution is shown below:

 

Type	Number of Items	Total Points	Percent of the Total Score
Multiple-choice	27	27	42%
Short-answer	11	22	33%
Extended-response	4	16	25%
Total	42	65	100%

 

Check out Tahoma's past performance on the WASL here.