16 local schools districts have students affected by test error

Hundreds of students were incorrectly notified that they had failed parts of the test.
By HAROLD GWIN
Vindicator education writer
YOUNGSTOWN -- The number of local schools affected by the Ohio graduation test snafu reported earlier this week has grown.
Initial reports indicated that only four local public school districts were affected, but a list released by the Ohio Department of Education shows that 14 public school districts, one private school and the Youngstown Catholic Diocese all had students whose test scores were incorrectly reported.
The state didn't have numbers for how many affected students were in each district. However, some of the districts got that information Wednesday directly from Measurement Inc. of Durham, N.C., the testing company.
The tests were given last summer to students entering 11th and 12th grades and those who were in 12th grade last year but haven't graduated.
Youngstown reported 10 students affected. Two were 12th-graders, but their graduation wasn't affected because they still had other curriculum requirements to complete.
Five were juniors, one was a sophomore, one was a nongraduate who still has a math test component to pass, and one moved from the city schools to a charter school.
Warren city schools reported four affected students, all sophomores; Niles had only one junior affected; and Southern had one 10th-grader affected.
Other schools
The state list showed that Boardman, Canfield, Hubbard, Lowellville, Sebring, Springfield, Struthers, United, Wellsville, Western Reserve and Life Skills Center of Youngstown also had students affected.
Those numbers weren't available Wednesday.
The state said that Measurement Inc.'s mistake led to incorrect failing grades for hundreds of Ohio students on some segment of the five-part graduation test, including 22 seniors who still needed to pass the test to graduate.
Rosemary Marich, Youngstown's director of educational research and information management, said the testing company sent the district letters to be delivered to each affected student, as well as each student's parent or guardian, explaining what happened, apologizing and giving the corrected grade.
The district also received a state Department of Education memo explaining what occurred, she said.
State accountability
"We need the state to be accountable for what happened," said Rocco Adduci, Niles superintendent. "They hired the testing company."
The state should face some consequence, he said, explaining that the error "throws the integrity of the test grading into question."
Measurement Inc. is at the end of a five-year $107 million contract with the state and faces financial penalties as a result of the test reporting error. Any penalties would be paid to the state.
gwin@vindy.com