FCAT Scores, Finally Released, Show Gains for Fla. Students

Tallahassee, Florida

A contractor faces costs and damages that could top $25 million for being more than a month late with standardized test scores, released Tuesday, that show improvement by most of Florida's school children.

Bloomington, Minn.-based NCS Pearson's contract includes penalties ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 per day for missing deadlines on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The scores for grades four through 11 were supposed to be delivered May 19-21.

Although the scores are late, Education Commissioner Eric Smith said he is confident the FCAT scores are accurate. Delays were caused by problems in matching databases, not the quality of...