Missing and duplicate pages in test books, answers that were already filled in and other errors with the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations have been reported by school districts from Cudahy to Wausau as the state’s testing period nears its end.
In all, 21 school districts have reported errors in 27 tests handed out to students since Oct. 24, the start of Wisconsin’s five-week testing period for every third- through eighth-grader and high school sophomore enrolled in public school.
A spokeswoman for CTB/McGraw-Hill, which was paid $6.6 million in 2004 to oversee Wisconsin’s testing program, blamed “printer-related problems” that affected test books given to a small number of students in fourth, eighth and 10th grades.
“The main thing to know is that the integrity of the student scores will be ensured,” said Kelley Carpenter, director of public relations for CTB/McGraw-Hill.
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Here’s an obvious question: HOW is the integrity of student scores to be insured, when the books and forms they were given to fill out had errors and gaps? Do they just not score those pages or questions (and what does that do to the kids who did get the right forms and got those questions right)? If it really was a printing problem, how do they even know they caught all of the errors, and can address them in scoring? And how can they be so sure it was a “small number of students” whose forms were affected? They sent the forms out and then heard back that there were errors on some. This spin skill factor is fascinating. As we politicize public education, standardized testing, and holding schools “accountable”, the companies that make money off of the whole shebang sound more and more like politicians to me. But there I go sounding cycnical and whining again, I guess…