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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The new vendor chosen to administer the ISTEP+ exam to Indiana students is promising that next spring's testing won't be marred by the glitches that plagued its predecessor.
Pearson Education Inc. replaced CTB/McGraw-Hill in March as the vendor for Indiana's standardized student tests after the exam ballooned in length and testing problems cropped up.
But the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, which works to end the misuse and flaws in standardized testing, has identified 43 issues with Pearson-administered tests since 2000, The Indianapolis Star reported (http://indy.st/1i3ZRt9 ).
Those include scoring errors, computer glitches and testing delays. The state of Minnesota, for example, put state-mandated examinations administered by Pearson on hold in April after schools experienced repeated glitches.
But Douglas Kubach, president of Pearson's school group, said the company has launched a new testing program that's nullified past glitches. He said that program will be in place during the spring 2016 ISTEP+ exam and he expects testing to go smoothly when it's given to some 450,000 Indiana students in grades three through eight.
"We're very confident our system will successfully deliver the ISTEP tests," Kubach said.
State officials were aware of previous issues with Pearson's performance, but state regulations don't allow past performance to be considered in evaluating competitive bids.
Cari Whicker, a member of the Indiana State Board of Education who was on the committee that helped choose Pearson, said she's disappointed state officials couldn't use every resource at their disposal to vet testing vendors.
She said past performance should be an item that is weighed in the decision-making process.
"I would never shop somewhere if I'd have had previous poor experiences there and it is unfortunate that's the process the state uses," Whicker said.
Pearson has estimated $38.1 million contract, although that contract is still being finalized.
The ISTEP+ exam that will be administered next spring will be similar to the previous test and should be shorter, said Daniel Altman, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Education, which oversees the statewide exam.
Although Pearson will administer the exam next spring, it will use questions created and tested by CTB/McGraw-Hill earlier this year.
However, the exam will not go through a test run in the fall, and that worries Whicker and Gordon Hendry, another member of the State Board of Education.
Hendry said that administering a practice test in the fall just makes sense.
"The Department of Education develops and administers the test. However, many on the board, including myself, would like to see the department and Pearson pilot the test for next spring to work out any bugs or technical issues in advance," he said.
Altman said the department does not believe a mock test is necessary. He stressed that the exam won't contain new material, as the previous test did because it had to comply with new statewide education standards.
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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com
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