High school test scores delayed because of scoring problems

HARTFORD, Conn. --For the second consecutive year, problems with a test-scoring contractor are threatening Connecticut's ability to comply with federal education requirements, state Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg said Wednesday.

Sternberg told the state Board of Education that Harcourt Assessment Inc. has been unable to score the written sections of the 2006 Connecticut Academic Performance Tests for high school sophomores because of equipment problems.

Essay questions and word problems comprise about one-third of the exam, she said.

The delay could jeopardize the state's ability to meet reporting deadlines under the No Child Left Behind Act, Sternberg said. It also means parents of children in troubled schools will have less time to decide whether to request transfers to better-performing schools.

The state expected the results in June, in time to notify school districts about whether they comply with the federal education standards. But in a letter to state officials, San Antonio-based Harcourt said it expects a delay of about two to four weeks because of the equipment problem.

Two weeks have already passed without the problem being corrected, however, and Sternberg said she worries that the four-week lag that the company presented as its worst-case scenario could end up being its best-case scenario.

Earlier this year, Harcourt was fined $80,000 after sending in the wrong scores for 355 students who took the 2005 CAPT tests. That is the maximum fine allowed each year under the state's contract with Harcourt.

The Education Department's attorneys are reviewing whether the earlier fine qualifies as a 2005 punishment, making it separate from the 2006 problem and proposed new fine.

"We'll seek every financial remedy we can to get them to be sensitive to us," Sternberg said.

A letter from Harcourt to state education officials on April 19 said company officials "truly apologize for these delays and appreciate your willingness to work with us."

Harcourt spokesman Rick Blake said Wednesday that the company expects to meet its target of resuming the test scanning by May 15. He said the problem also affects other customers outside of Connecticut, but that he could not say who they were.

"We regret the problem and we are working 24-7 to get back on track and to get it done accurately," he said.

However, Sternberg said she questions whether the company will act quickly to resolve the problem or place Connecticut at the end of the line behind other clients who also are experiencing delays.

Connecticut already had decided to change vendors, and Harcourt's contract ends after it finishes scoring this test.

"Who do you think they're going to want to service first, the state whose contract is finished?" Sternberg asked.

The Connecticut Academic Performance Test is administered each year to all high school sophomores in the state's public schools. A small number of juniors also take the test, usually if they need to improve their scores to meet their district's graduation requirements.

School districts use the results to track the progress of individual students and to assess whether the schools are meeting performance goals, including compliance with federal law. The CAPT measures student performance in mathematics, science, reading and writing.

The test is separate from the Connecticut Mastery Test, which is given each year to students in fourth, sixth and eighth grades to test their proficiency in reading, writing and math.