Standardized tests checked for errors
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer
Specialists at the state Department of Education are combing through a battery of standardized tests looking for more errors after test coordinators, teachers and students spotted numerous mistakes this spring.
The errors raise questions about the high-stakes tests, which are taken by thousands of Hawai'i students and used to determine whether schools meet annual goals under the federal No Child Left Behind law, with schools that fall short facing consequences.
The state has documented errors in the instructions, samples and the actual tests. After the review is complete, the DOE may either throw out incorrect test questions, give students credit or partial credit for some questions or, as a last resort, have students retake portions of the tests.
The tests were prepared by Harcourt Assessment Inc., a San Antonio, Texas-based company that has a five-year, $20 million contract with the DOE.
Students in the third, fifth, eighth and 10th grades took the annual tests, which are used to measure whether students are meeting the state's standards in math and reading. Other students also took the tests as practice to help the DOE prepare for when it has to test students in more grades.
State schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto said yesterday that no student or school would be held to any of the test mistakes. Harcourt has offered to send letters of apology to schools and will likely pay the costs of the inquiry and any remedy.
"Obviously, that's not enough," said Hamamoto, who added that she was angry and wants new quality assurances from Harcourt to restore confidence in the tests.
Harcourt, one of the nation's top testing companies, has statewide contracts with more than 20 states and with school districts in other states. Mark Slitt, a Harcourt spokesman, said the firm is "disturbed and saddened" by the errors and is working with the DOE to identify the scope of the problem.
"It is very upsetting to us," Slitt said.
Harcourt's president apologized to state officials in Oklahoma last month after errors were found on sample questions on student tests. In the past several years, according to press reports, Harcourt has also been involved in test errors in a handful of other states, including Nevada, where it paid a $425,000 fine after mistakes led to failing scores for more than 700 Nevada high school students.
Many educators have questioned No Child Left Behind because the law places so much emphasis on the results of standardized tests. Some educators believe that high-stakes testing does not provide a complete picture of student knowledge and is an unfair measure of schools. Supporters of the law argue that it is holding schools accountable for student performance.
"We've always believed that student testing is not the best way to get a gauge of what children know," said Danielle Lum, communications specialist with the Hawai'i State Teachers Association.
Selvin Chin-Chance, who leads test development at the DOE, said officials are sorting through multiple versions of the tests in each subject and each grade level. Students would only have to take parts of the tests again if entire sections were compromised by errors, he said.
"This in no way affects the entire test, because we're talking about individual items. And, for sure, it doesn't effect the validity of the scores, either, after we have made the corrections," he said.
Rob Flemm, a testing coordinator at Kealakehe Intermediate School on the Big Island, who pointed out errors in the tests to the DOE, said he also noticed problems with the tests last school year. Flemm said the errors in the sample parts of the tests lead students to believe their reasoning or problem-solving skills are wrong.
"I don't believe it's a valid test," Flemm said. "I want assurances that the questions that students respond to, that are measurable, are accurate."
Reach Derrick DePledge at 525-8084 or at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.
