EDUCATION

FCAT company president vows to do better

The state's FCAT testing company has a plan to avoid problems next year.

BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY

KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The president of the company that botched the release of this year's FCAT scores assured the state Board of Education Tuesday that the problems won't happen again.

``While I cannot change the fact that the scores were delayed, I want you to know that we've learned from our mistakes,'' said Doug Kubach, the president of NCS-Pearson Assessment.

Those mistakes included unforeseen computer problems that caused some student scores to be released more than a month late -- and called into question the validity of the grades.

Kubach said the testing company had invested ``considerable resources'' into making sure last year's debacle was not repeated.

For one, the company is making sure its databases are compatible with the state's.

Another fix: helping schools prepare for the launch of online testing this fall. Last year, students who took part in the trial run had difficulties signing on.

``I'm highly confident that the changes we've put in place will mean that we'll be very successful this spring,'' Kubach said.

Despite assurances, board members were not ready to rest easy.

``This cannot happen again,'' board member Akshay Desai warned the Pearson president. ``You don't have any room to make mistakes.''

Pearson, an international testing company, received a $254 million contract to score and administer the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests through 2013.

But this past school year, Pearson ran into problems, first with administering online exams. Some students could not connect to the network when they were scheduled for testing. As a result, many scores could not be validated.

Later, Pearson had problems delivering student scores. The company fell weeks behind in releasing the data to local school districts, creating headaches for school administrators and parents across Florida.

Once Pearson released the scores, superintendents across the state questioned their validity. Two independent audits said the scores were legitimate, but questions have continued to linger.

Pearson has since paid the state $15 million in fines and may still be held responsible for additional claims by individual school districts.

But board of education members wanted more than liquidated damages. On Tuesday, they had sharp words for the company's president.

Board member Kathleen Shanahan said last year's problems had damaged the integrity of Florida's accountability system.

``We cannot, cannot repeat it,'' she said.

Kubach said Pearson has modified its computer system to ``process and produce data in the structure used by Florida.'' The company also plans to run mock tests in December to make sure its systems are properly configured, he said.

In addition, to help schools prepare for online testing, Pearson will hold regional training sessions in November.

The testing company added members to the team overseeing the FCAT and expanded the size of its Florida technical support center, too.

Board member John Padget, a former Monroe County superintendent, asked Kubach for monthly updates.

``There were early signs of the difficulties last November and December and there was not enough transparency, so this board didn't know about it,'' he said. ``If we could have that information in a simple way, it would help all of us.''

Kubach agreed.

After the meeting, Board of Education Chairman T. Willard Fair said he was satisfied with the Pearson president's report.

``He understands the magnitude of what we're expecting of him,'' Fair said.

``I'm sure he'll do everything to comply.''

Additionally, state Education Commissioner Eric Smith said he plans to convene a superintendents' group to review the FCAT and the overall accountability system.

Group members will examine the formulas used to grade individual students and schools.

``We're going to be looking at the formulas to see if there are ways we can improve on the stability of these scores,'' Smith said.

Board members also asked for a workshop on using and interpreting the data.

``Our accountability structure. . . has paid off strong dividends for children,'' Smith said. ``But nothing is ever perfect. We hope to make this a better accountability and testing program going forward.''

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