The Educational Testing Service has agreed to create a $11.1 million fund to pay damages to teachers who were given wrong scores on a licensing exam in 2003 and 2004, under the terms of a settlement disclosed last week.
Nearly 27,000 people who took the Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching: Grades 7-12 test between January 2003 and April 2004 got incorrect scores, and of those, 4,100 were told they had failed. (“Scoring Error Clouds Hiring of Teachers,” July 28, 2004.)
A spokesman for the ETS said last week that he could not comment on the settlement, which was approved by a federal judge in New Orleans. In a statement, the Princeton, N.J.-based nonprofit organization said the settlement fund would be used to provide cash payments to plaintiffs for lost wages, decreased earning capacity, and other damages.
A court-appointed special master will weigh damage claims from teachers and decide how to divide up the money.
The ETS added that notices informing people about their legal rights would be mailed to test-takers, appropriate educational institutions, teachers’ unions, and state departments of education.
