Sharpen your pencils. The state’s new student testing starts next week.

While the new tests are shorter, they aren’t going to be any easier, said Debra Tito, the Renton School District’s director of assessment.

“This year’s HSPE (High School Proficiency Exam) is going to look and feel very much like the WASL from last year,” she said.

The state shortened the standardized tests to about one to two hours and each test only takes one day.

Students will find shorter reading passages and more multiple-choice questions.

About 80 percent of the test is multiple choice. The rest is made of one- or two-sentence short answer.

The “new” tests come with new names, but they’re mostly just shorter versions of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

Students still must pass the reading portion of the HSPE to graduate.

All districts are hoping to improve their state assessment scores.

“Math has been a big focus this year in terms of instruction and professional development,” Tito said. “We’re certainly hopeful math scores will improve.”

The district is also hoping that all the student groups, especially ethnic ones, progress, she said.

Most of the tests start in the morning before lunch. Students should arrive on time and be well-rested.

For students grades 9-12, the HSPE reading and writing exams are March 16-18. There are no make-up exams for absent students, as the exams need to be graded in time for graduation.

HSPE math and science exams are in April.

Measurement of Student Progress (MSP) exams, for students in grades 3-8, start in May, and the scores aren’t released until September.

It’s up to each school to decide when to do the MSP testing.