v. Derived from the WASL standardized test, the Washington State Assesment of Student Learning, mandated by No Child Left Behind. The WASL tests have popularized the use of the word "wasl" as a verb, adjective, and explitive as well as the traditional noun form, though the verb form is the most common at this point. Common forms of the verb include wasling and wasled.
The WASL tests take place every spring and are currently given to students in 4th, 7th, 8th, and 10th, though they are adding more grades every year. The students in the class of '08, who took the 10th grade wasls last year, are the first class required to pass the reading, writing, and math wasls for high school graduation and complete a cumulative project. The class of '10, or current high school freshmen, must additionally pass the science wasls. Many schools have very low passing rates due to lack of government funding. The government (again mandated by No Child Left Behind) in turn decreases their funding even more, so they score even worse the next time they get wasled.
The wasls take at least a week's worth of two hours of testing a day to complete. This year's 10th grade wasls total nine days worth of tests. The writing wasls feature ridiculously lame prompts and the science wasls are infamous for testing students on things they ... |
