DOE blasts FCAT testing company for delays
Education commissioner Eric Smith threatens Pearson testing company with fines
The delayed release of scores from the 2010 FCAT is "absolutely unacceptable" and the testing company at fault will face "significant financial penalties," Education Commissioner Eric Smith said Tuesday.
Pearson, the company responsible for scoring the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test this year, has run into problems matching test scores with student information files, according to the Florida Department of Education.
As a result, the department said most FCAT scores likely will not be released until the end of this month, and that is not guaranteed. The results are one or two months behind schedule, as writing scores were due in April and most others in May.
The delay in the release of scores on Florida's high-stakes test — used to judge student, school and teacher performance — has frustrated school administrators across the state. It comes just months after Pearson faced withering criticism, and the threat of fines, in Wyoming for problems with that state's testing program.
"The lack of performance by the state's new testing contractor, NCS Pearson, is absolutely unacceptable, and the delays we have encountered in the reporting of this year's FCAT results are not indicative of the smooth, expertly managed experience they promised as a part of the contract procurement process," Smith said in a statement released this afternoon.
"I am both outraged and frustrated by the situation Pearson has caused and I do not intend to allow these inexcusable delays to go unanswered. In addition to demanding that Pearson ensure all future test administrations are absent of the technology issues we have experienced this year, I also intend to impose significant financial penalties as a result of their failure to meet contract deadlines."
Pearson, which won the $254 million FCAT contract last year, could face damages of up to $250,000 a day if "extremely critical work tasks" are not done seven days after due date, its contract says.
Adam Gaber, a Pearson spokesman, said company officials "deeply regret the inconvenience these delays have caused educators, students and parents," and "we take responsibility for it; with the benefit of hindsight, we underestimated the challenges involved in aligning technology systems between Pearson, FDOE and the state's schools."
Florida officials say they are convinced the FCAT scores are valid based in part on scoring reviews done by outside test experts from the University of Nebraska. But problems meshing student identification files — created prior to testing — with student scores have created a delay releasing results for the bulk of this year's FCAT exams, taken by more than 1 million students.
Pearson is under fire in Wyoming for problems with that state's assessment program. Wyoming's superintendent of instruction has said his state's entire test program may be "suspect" this year as a result. He is seeking more than $9.5 million in damages from the company.
Tim Lockwood, a spokesman for the Wyoming Department of Education, said his state isn't sure what will happen with the math, reading, science and writing exams taken by some 50,000 Wyoming students.
But the state has already alerted the U.S. Department of Education that it might need a waiver from No Child Left Behind law this year because it is not confident its state test scores, due out this summer, will be accurate. States must test students yearly to comply with that federal law.
Wyoming students using Pearson's online testing program encountered numerous problems this spring, as the test froze up, booted them off the system or took "extended" periods of time to load test questions, the state said.
In Florida, testing went smoothly, officials said, but there were problems with Pearson's "database technology."
Sam Momary, principal of Hagerty High in Seminole County, said it was a "big hassle" to get scores so late. Secondary students who score poorly on the FCAT reading and math exams must take remedial classes. But that scheduling cannot be done if the scores aren't in. And when they do get in, he added, it looks as if most of his staff will be on summer vacation.
Pearson was able to get scores out for third-graders, who can be held back if they fail the reading exam, and for high school seniors, who can't graduate without passing FCAT, close to on time.
Ken Meyers, principal of Kissimmee Elementary in Osceola County, said the third-grade score release allowed his staff to plan for needed summer programs for his struggling readers.
But he said the delay was still upsetting. "I am sure our parents felt like the kids, teachers and I did when we were told the scores would not be back until the end of June — discouraged and disappointed," he said in an email. "With the amount of weight this test carries, all of us expect the contracted scoring company to score the tests, run the data and report them to us on time."
At Avalon Middle in Orange County, Principal Judy Frank said the delay is not causing problems for administrators, as they are using local test data to make scheduling decisions that will be revisited once FCAT scores arrive.
But she said teachers are frustrated the school year, which wraps up this week in Central Florida, is ending and they don't know how their students did on the key state test.
"This state has placed so much emphasis on the scores," she added, "so teachers are very anxious."
Leslie Postal can be reached at lpostal@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5273.
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