Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In April, a software glitch in the computerized program delayed testing in Oklahoma and other states. But the OEA says that wasn't the only problem, citing "ineptitude on the part of CTB/McGraw Hill" for weeks of testing snafus.
I have heard similar stories from my friend who teaches in NYC (Brooklyn) Here is one glitch on scoring the regents exams
This is the first June that all Regents exams taken at city high schools are being graded through “distributed scoring,” an arrangement devised to prevent teachers from scoring tests taken by students at their schools. Until last year, teachers graded their own students’ exams, but under pressure to show that test scores are not inflated, the state barred that practice. The city’s scoring system extends the state’s rules.
After a pilot last year, the Department of Education opted to have four of the most-taken tests — Living Environment, Global Studies, U.S. History, and English — scored electronically. McGraw-Hill, the vendor administering the process, collects the exams at schools, transports them to a scanning site in Connecticut, and then distributes answers one by one to teachers stationed at computers in city grading centers.
Quote:
The cumulative result is that three exams required for graduation will not be graded by the department’s expected deadline. Niket Mull, who directs the Office of Assessment, sent an email to principals on Monday explaining that the Living Environment exam would be scored not by Wednesday but by Friday. Instead of being scored by Thursday, the history exams will not be complete until the end of the week or even Monday.
Schools begin holding graduation ceremonies on Thursday, although most are scheduled for next week. Schools are also in the process of determining who needs to attend summer school and what courses students should take next fall, decisions that can’t be made until scores are in.
One principal who estimated that at least 50 students at his school need scores to graduate that seem unlikely to arrive in time for the school’s commencement. He said he would be asking their parents to sign a form indicating that they understand that graduation is conditional on the test scores.
“I’ve never had to do that before,” the principal said. “I’m pretty strict about allowing kids to walk if they haven’t met the requirements. … But this is different.”
A couple years ago about 10% of my AP students (who received their AP scores in July) received an "adjusted score" in September. There was no explanation from CollegeBoard and they would not answer questions when asked.