Exams receive failing grade
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By Ann McGlynn | Friday, March 10, 2006 |
Eric Sumberg/QUAD-CITY TIMES Gay Dunn, the counselor in charge of standardized testing at Glenview Middle School in East Moline, looks over copies of the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests. The company that prints and ships standardized tests could lose its $45 million contract because of problems with the exams.
The publisher responsible for printing and shipping the high-stakes standardized test taken by hundreds of thousands of Illinois school children could lose its $45 million contract because of massive problems with the exams.
Harcourt Assessment’s delays and misprints on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, or ISAT, are causing “overwhelming stress” for schools, state education Superintendent Randy Dunn said during a news conference Thursday. Dunn said he is considering whether to recommend the termination of a five-year contract with the Texas-based company.
“This contract is in serious, serious jeopardy,” he said, adding that the company has been told to do whatever necessary, including the chartering of planes and using automobile transportation — driving overnight if necessary — to get the materials to Illinois schools.
Many are questioning the validity of the exams, which are used to determine whether or not schools face sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Schools will be able to file an appeal if district leaders believe test scores were impacted by the problems, Dunn said. However, he maintains that the test results will be valid.
Districts will be able to file claims for money spent because of the problems, claims that will be forwarded to Harcourt, he said. Schools also will be allowed to request an adjustment in terms of when students take the exams. (Dunn's memo to district superintendents.)
But some school districts have already started testing.
In the Sherrard School District, the fourth- and seventh-grade exams have serious flaws, repeating a reading section in some tests and missing 20 pages in another, said Alan Boucher, the curriculum director.
Some of the manuals directing teachers how to give the tests, as well as information for students with disabilities, have not arrived, either, he said.
“We’ve been able to work ourselves through it, but not without a lot of pain and suffering,” he said. “It’s been very disappointing because the government has put high-stakes demands on educators. We work with the kids well in advance, preparing them for these testing dates, sending letters home, ordering snacks for them to eat, going well out of our way to make sure the testing is done in a right manner. And then they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.”
The school district has “every intention” of filing a claim for the additional costs incurred, he said, adding, “It’s been quite a week.”
This is not the first time Harcourt has had serious problems with a state testing contract.
An Internet search reveals newspaper articles from throughout the country detailing significant errors and delays with Harcourt-produced exams. The company has lost state contracts before. This is the first year Harcourt has administered the ISAT tests.
The company won the Illinois contract in a controversial bidding process during September 2004. Its lobbyist was John Wyma, who was a top campaign aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich during his 2002 gubernatorial bid. The governor’s office has said Blagojevich’s relationship with Wyma had nothing to do with the awarding of the contract.
The company defended itself in a statement issued Thursday.
“Harcourt regrets the delays in delivery of ISAT test materials,” the statement reads. “We realize that the testing season is a busy and stressful period for schools under the best of circumstances and that these late delivery problems have caused significant hardship.”
It continues: “Our entire focus at this time is on completing the administration of the current ISAT smoothly and without further delay. We stand ready to provide to the State Board of Education whatever assurance they require of our ability to perform our duties under our contract with the state and to give them confidence in our quality-control systems.”
The company says materials ordered to date will arrive no later than Monday.
That is when Moline is set to begin testing. The materials had not arrived there as of Thursday, district spokeswoman Martha Garcia-Tappa said.
In Rock Island, everyone has the materials needed and is testing, except Horace Mann Elementary, which will do its testing after spring break, said Ken Jaeke, director of instruction for the district. No excuse has been given to explain why Horace Mann’s materials did not arrive, he said.
Gaye Dunn, who is a counselor at Glenview Middle School in East Moline, is quite clear on the subject: She does not believe the test results will be valid because of exactly what is happening in her district and others. She has spent a week’s worth of 14- to 16-hour days fixing the problem at Glenview. “I see the franticness in the faces of the teachers. It’s an ugly feeling,” she added.
She puts the blame squarely on the state. “They better feel the heat. It isn’t about the money. It’s about accountability.
“You make everybody responsible but yourself? I find them very consistent in this behavior. I think it should live with them.”
Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (5630 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.
Harcourt's letter to Illinois superintendent
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