Connecticut has hired a new test company to handle its student assessments after the previous vendor encountered scoring problems that delayed results for several months in the 2003-04 school year.
Under a new, $45 million contract, the Durham, N.C.-based Measurement Inc. will administer Connecticut’s battery of annual state tests through 2010.
The change in vendors stems from problems that arose after the state hired CTB/McGraw Hill of Monterey, Calif., to design and administer a new generation of the exams. When first given in fall 2003, the tests produced results that didn’t jibe with those of previous years’, prompting the rescoring of their open-ended items. (“Connecticut Tests Delayed By Scoring Glitches,” Feb. 11, 2004)
Commissioner of Education Betty J. Sternberg said last week that the state and CTB “mutually agreed” to terminate their contract.
Kelley Carpenter, a spokeswoman for CTB/McGraw Hill, said the company “supported and encouraged” the state to seek a new contract, and noted that rescoring was not needed with last fall’s administration of Connecticut’s tests.
