States Writing Penalty Clauses Into Testing Contracts

With so much now riding on student test results, states are introducing stiff penalties and other provisions into assessment contracts to provide an incentive for publishers to deliver results on time and error-free.

“Statewide testing programs are much more visible to the public, and so I would say there is a heightened sensitivity to any glitches,” said Jeff Galt, the president and chief executive officer of the San Antonio-based Harcourt Assessment. “Where there used to be some collegiality, or an understanding that it’s still a process dependent on human beings, subject to mistakes, there’s very little tolerance for that.”

Hawaii, for example, is negotiating a partial reimbursement from Harcourt for errors in the state’s spring 2004 state testing materials. The company reviewed test scores last summer, to ensure that none of the mistakes in the test booklets or administration manuals would harm students or schools. And it has worked out new quality-control processes with the state to ensure that the...