Company's test score reports had flaws

Twenty-two seniors were given false failing grades.
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
AP Statehouse Correspondent
YOUNGSTOWN -- Local school districts are waiting to find out which of their students are among those whose Ohio graduation test scores were reported incorrectly by a testing company.
The Ohio Department of Education said Monday that Measurement Inc.'s mistake led to hundreds of students' incorrectly receiving a failing grade on Ohio's new graduation test, including 22 seniors who still needed to pass the test to graduate.
The state said the testing company graded the tests of 890 students correctly but made a mistake converting raw test data to passing and failing grades.
It was not clear whether the test was the only hurdle left for graduation for the 22 seniors given false failing grades. Schools cannot release the students' identities under federal privacy laws.
An additional 45 seniors had their test results bumped up but not enough to pass the test.
The mistake was made on tests given last summer to students entering their junior and senior years as well as students who were in 12th grade last year but haven't graduated.
The state and the company planned to notify 272 school districts this week whose students were affected by the mistake. A department spokesman said the testing company would notify affected students directly by letter.
Valley affected
"We haven't learned anything yet," Dr. Wendy Webb, Youngstown superintendent of schools, said late Tuesday. Youngstown is one of 272 affected districts.
"If we had some seniors who weren't able to walk across the stage and get their diplomas, we're going to have some upset people," she said.
Webb said she will call for a thorough investigation to find out what happened. "We want the data to be accurate and valid," she added.
The state confirmed that Warren, Hubbard and Niles school districts also had students whose scores were incorrectly reported.
Dawn Marzano, spokeswoman for the Warren schools, said her district received an e-mail from the office of the state superintendent of schools saying the 272 districts would be sent a list of affected students by Friday.
Until then, Warren won't know how many students are involved, she said.
Officials in Hubbard and Niles districts weren't immediately available to comment.
An Education Department data analyst caught the error in October after noticing discrepancies between actual and projected results on the test.
Acknowledging mistake
The Durham, N.C.-based company, at the end of a five-year, $107 million contract, faces financial penalties that would be paid to the state.
The company acknowledges the mistake and said it's the first time it made an error big enough to warrant a fine.
"We'll have to sit down with them after we get the score reports out and figure out what's fair," said company founder and President Henry Scherich. "Obviously, this was not what they paid us to do."
Scherich likened the mistake to adding up eligible income correctly on a tax return, then using the wrong filing category to calculate how much is owed in taxes.
In a letter to students that will arrive this week, Scherich apologized for the mistake.
"We deeply regret our error and any hardship or distress it may have caused you and your family," the letter said.
The state will closely check the company's work in the future but is satisfied with the firm's overall performance and track record, said Education Department spokesman J.C. Benton.
"They are taking full responsibility for this," he said. "We appreciate that."
Broad impact
Districts learning of the error Monday were scrambling to figure out what it meant for their students.
In Columbus, 134 students took the test including 24 seniors, said city district spokesman Michael Straughter. The district is checking to see how many of any those seniors received an incorrect score that might have kept them from graduating.
The district is troubled by "anything that impacts our graduation rate, even if it's one student who needed that score," Straughter said. "We're pushing for 100 percent graduation, period."
Other big city districts affected by the mistake were Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton.
The mistake affected a total of 1,599 students, including 543 whose scores increased but not enough to pass. The error did not affect district report cards for the 2004-05 school year, since the cards did not include data from the summer test.
XHarold Gwin, Vindicator education writer, contributed to this story.