Texas' testing vendor must pay millions in fines for glitches with this year's STAAR tests and develop an action plan to fix problems.
Education commissioner Mike Morath announced today that Educational Testing Services will pay the state $5.7 million in damages and spend $15 million more on improvements in online testing, shipping and other areas.
"I believe this combination of liquidated damages with an additional financial commitment from ETS reflects the correct balance of accountability for the recent past and safeguards for the future," Morath said in a statement.
ETS was so late delivering results on time that Morath ended up throwing out the tests for fifth- and eighth-graders.
This was the first year New Jersey-based ETS administered the STAAR tests, with problems starting almost immediately.
"ETS apologizes for the operational shortcomings during this year's STAAR program," vendor officials wrote in a news release. "Our most important goal is to deliver the high-quality program the students and educators of Texas deserve, and we will continue to improve programs and processes to achieve that objective."
Computer glitches in March affected 14,200 students who had answers erased or were given the wrong tests. Districts complained about incorrect scoring for high-schoolers, and officials later acknowledged that the company was scrambling to grade tests on time.
Security measures didn't appear to be strictly followed as various items — including a set of Christian books — were mixed in with testing materials.
School officials had to scramble to recode tests and help students recover work throughout the testing season.
Morath noted that ETS provided additional support to districts and charters — worth about $20 million — in addition to what was laid out in its contract with the state.
ETS is not new to testing. The nonprofit also oversees Scholastic Aptitude Tests, Graduate Record Examinations and other tests worldwide.
Officials believe this is the largest testing fine levied on a vendor in Texas.
Previously, Pearson Education was the only company to administer state testing for Texas. In the 2010-11 school year, Pearson was fined $225,000 for sporadic online outages and interruptions. The following year, it was hit with a $491,774 fine for some students having test answers erased, missed deadlines and reporting errors.
This comes a day after a state judge allowed a lawsuit by a group of parents — including one from Lake Dallas — to continue. They contend that this year's tests violated state law by not adhering to mandated time restrictions.
The state tried to say the parents didn't have the proper standing to pursue the case. But a crowdfunded, grassroots group of parents from Stop STAAR can proceed.
