Now that the purchasing agent for New Mexico approved the $1 billion PARCC contract tailor-made for Pearson, that lucky British company will write the Common Core tests for 6-10 million American children.
But consider Pearson’s history of testing errors:
“PEARSON SCORE FOUL-UP HISTORY, by Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director, FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing (updated February, 2011)
1998 California – test score delivery delayed
1999-2000 Arizona – 12,000 tests misgraded due to flawed answer key
2000 Florida – test score delivery delayed resulting in $4 million fine
2000 Minnesota – misgraded 45,739 graduation tests – lawsuit with $11 million settlement – judge found “years of quality control problems” and a “culture emphasizing profitability and cost-cutting.” — (note FairTest consulted with plaintiffs’ attorneys)
2000 Washington – 204,000 writing WASL exams rescored
2005 Michigan — scores delayed and fines levied per contract
2005 Virginia — computerized test misgraded – five students awarded $5,000 scholarships
2005-2006 SAT college admissions test – 4400 tests wrongly scored; $3 million settlement after lawsuit (note FairTest was an expert witness for plaintiffs)
2008 South Carolina –“Scoring Error Delays School Report Cards” The State, November 14, 2008
2008-2009 Arkansas — first graders forced to retake exam because real test used for practice
2009-2010 Wyoming – new computer adaptive PAWS flops; state ordered Pearson to repay $9.5 million for “complete default of the contract”
2010 Florida – test score delivery delayed by more than a month – nearly $15 million in fines imposed and paid. School superintendents still question score accuracy.
2010 Minnesota — results from online science tests taken by 180,000 students delayed due to scoring error
2011 Florida – some writing exams delivered to districts without cover sheets, revealing subject students would be asked to write about”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’ve already resolved myself that I will continue to teach to the test, give multiple tests, and waste precious teaching time over testing. I feel defeated. There is just too much money and political clout behind CC. The public doesn’t seem to care either. The NEA and CTA don’t seem to be doing much of a push back. I write letters, inform everyone I can, and 14 years later nothing has changed.
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The New Mexico would waive aside the AIR complaint was entirely predictable. What remains to be seen is whether AIR will pursue this beyond New Mexico.
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In Texas, Pearson released the high school short answer prompts and scoring anchor papers to scorers, some of whom were Texas teachers, before the test was administered. Those questions comprised 20% of the test score for those students.
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/questions-on-two-staar-exams-were-accidentially-emailed-out-last-month.html/
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Great link Melinda! I am sure there are no “unscrupulous” teachers in Texas.
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This part of the battle is over and public education lost. Badly. The voting public does not care about the education of other people’s children. They see public education as a waste of their tax money. They do not believe any claim that comes from teachers or teachers unions. They regard the latter as the major problem with education.
The voting public did not come to believe these things after careful research or personal experience. They adopted these beliefs because they have been the target of a relentless public relations campaign for nearly thirty years.
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Pearson is like a nation unto itself. And we thought we were free from the British. . . . . .
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’bout time for another “revolution”
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“. . . despite checkered past.”
If I may correct “. . . despite checkered past, present and future.”
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The problem is Capitalism.
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