Disputes between big education agencies and contractors happen all the time and are generally not all that newsworthy. But recent events in Wyoming are of an entirely different ilk.
The state is charging that the firm engaged to administer the end-of-year assessment completely failed in its responsibility. The upshot, the state claims, is that the results from this year's tests are ?essentially unusable.?
The firm reportedly offered a settlement of approximately $250,000, but the state is claiming it suffered damages of more than $9 million.
Of course this has serious short-term implications for AYP determinations and the state's ability to monitor student, teacher, school, and district performance. But it also raises implementation questions about our move toward common standards and assessments.
When 20 or 30 states are using the same system, how do we ensure that an unfortunate testing error doesn't compromise the validity of achievement data on 30 million kids?
?Andy Smarick