HSPA
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The High School Proficiency Assessment (abbreviated HSPA and pronounced "hes-pah" or sometimes just "H-S-P-A") is a standardized test adminstered by the New Jersey Department of Education to all New Jersey high school students in March of their 11th grade year. The HSPA is administered over a course of three days simultaneously in all high schools throughout the state of New Jersey. The exam tests students' proficiency in a variety of academic subjects including reading, writing, and mathematics. State law in New Jersey requires that all students pass the HSPA in order to graduate high school.
Students who do not pass the exam on their first try have two opportunities to retake it during their 12th grade (and final) year. Additionally, for those who are still unable to pass the exam or feel that they are "not good test-takers," the state department of education gives students the option of participating in a "special review assessment process" to demonstrate their academic abilities.
The exam, first administered in 1993, was originally called the High School Proficiency Test or HSPT until its name was changed in 2001.
It is a little known fact that if on any of the days on which the HSPA is administered a school district decides to close school due to inclement weather, every single district in the state must cancel school that day. Thought somewhat drastic, this measure is taken to prevent cheating.