The Pearson company recently released incorrect test results for the Virginia Alternate Assessment Program that affects 271 Prince William County School students and more than 4,400 students statewide.
While the assessments were scored correctly, those scores were incorrectly translated into proficiency levels.
"Specifically, there was a reporting error in determining a student’s performance level (Pass/Proficient, Pass/Advanced or Fail)," reported Susan Aspey, a media representative for Pearson. "The assessments were scored correctly; however, the error occurred in converting the scores to performance levels."
According to Prince William County Schools Office of Communications Director Phil Kavits, during the last week of July, parents received a notice of whether their child had passed or failed the state tests, but now many of those scores have been retracted.
“During the 2012-13 school year, there were 1,867 VAAP assessment records submitted from a total of 615 students;," said Kavits.“There were 383 records impacted by the error; affecting 271 students; it appears that approximately 80 received erroneous reports that they had passed.”
Pearson provided PWCS with letters to send to parents along with new reports, one letter for students whose scores were affected and another for those whose scores were not.
Kavits said parents have not yet been notified, but he is expecting that “there will be questions and concerns which we will endeavor to address.”
The Virginia Alternate Assessment Program is a test taken by students who have cognitive impairments that exempt them from taking the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment taken by the general population. Kavits said the assessments do not determine whether those students progress to the next grade level.
Pearson, addressed the issue on their website apologizing to those affected.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has created for students, parents, schools and school divisions, as well as to our colleagues at the Virginia Department of Education. We understand the importance of accurate reporting and know that the school divisions are now working very hard to make internal adjustments to their scores before reporting them to parents and the state,” she said.
Pearson, the world's largest developer of standardized tests, continues to come under scrutiny since they benefit from No-Child Left Behind legislation that requires statewide testing.
Additionally, The Washington Post reported that Pearson made similar errors in scoring admission tests for New York City Public Schools and tests conducted in other regions.
Kavits said the school division does not have the option of using a different testing company since the Virginia Department of Education makes that determination.
“We anticipate that the VDOE will investigate the situation further,” Kavits said.
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