Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for September 22, 2006 IL GETS ITS TESTING ACT TOGETHER

From the Southern Illinoisan...

Illinois hires ACT company to take over state testing

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD � Illinois hired a new company Thursday to administer statewide tests for high school students after the last company botched a different state test.

The new company is Iowa-based ACT, the same not-for-profit organization that administers the college entrance exam. It will run Illinois' Prairie State Achievement Examination, which is taken by high school juniors.

The PSAE had been run by Texas-based Harcourt Assessment. But Harcourt had major problems earlier this year with another Illinois test, forcing some schools to delay the exam.

ACT can make $52 million in the new testing deal, but state officials say the company faces major financial penalties if anything goes wrong.

``If you fall down on certain things, you're going to pay the price,'' said Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the State Board of Education. ``It's unfortunate we had to learn the lessons we did in the last year. We've applied them to do everything we possibly can to make sure it doesn't happen again.''

The board approved the ACT contract unanimously Thursday.

The company already administers the college-exam portion of the two-day test. Now it will run the whole thing, and Harcourt will have no role.

Harcourt's handling of another test, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, was a major problem in the spring.

The ISAT, given to third- through eighth-graders, helps determine whether schools are meeting the tough requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law, which carries sanctions for low-performing schools. The results also help schools develop or change curriculum.

But Harcourt, which had a $45 million contract, failed to deliver the test on time to some schools and sent the wrong test to other schools. Dozens of districts had to delay giving the test.

The company spent at least $1.3 million to charter planes to get the materials to Illinois schools once the problem was discovered. It also agreed to pay the state $1.6 million in damages.

Eventually, Harcourt was stripped of its duties related to delivering and scoring tests. The State Board of Education still uses it to develop test questions.