Students who take the WASL next year likely will have a different testing experience: It will be shorter, will have fewer open-ended questions and will be available to students who don’t speak English.

On the flip side, if the students don’t pass, a summer program designed to help them succeed the second time around won’t be there.

The budget agreement that’s set for approval today by the Legislature cuts open-ended questions on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, saving $10.5 million.

But the overall WASL budget will still increase by about $15 million – for a total of $37 million for 2009 – due to increased testing costs. Thanks to testing required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, lawmakers said testing demand has jumped and pricing has followed.

Math, the subject high school students have had the least success in passing, is facing the biggest cuts in open-ended questions for grades 3 through 8.

The test for some grades will get more cuts than others, said Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, a Bothell Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. She said the overall cuts would amount to about 20 percent, resulting in a test with 60 percent multiple choice questions and 40 percent open-ended questions.

The cuts represent a significant change for the WASL, said Paul Guppy, research director for the Washington Policy Center, a conservative think tank.

Guppy said he’s concerned that the test might get easier, but officials with the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction have said that won’t happen.

The Legislature also cut funding for the “Participating in Academic Success” program, created in 2006 to help students who have failed the WASL. McAuliffe and Mary Lindquist, president of the Washington Education Association, said not many students used the program.

A 2006 report from the state showed that the 13 percent of students who failed the WASL and participated in the program had a greater chance of passing than students who did not participate.

Niki Sullivan: 360-754-6093

blogs.thenewstribune.com/politics