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CSAP Questionnaire

The answer to Question 2 is ‘A’ - Zero (0).

 

Zero, none, never.  Not any point since Colorado schools began administering the test in 1997 has McGraw-Hill and the CSAP been independently evaluated.  There is a false assumption that standardized tests are "scientifically accurate and objective."

 

In May of 2001, 47,000 students in Minnesota received lower scores than they should have as a result of of errors in a NCS, National Computer Systems, a standardized test.  8,000 failed when they deserved to pass and 525 seniors were unjustly denied diplomas as a result of the mistakes.  The judge concluded that NCS had a long history of shoddy quality control and had scrimped on hiring sufficient-or sufficiently skilled-employees to cure the problem in order to maximize company profits.  Students were awarded 8 million, with those who had missed their high school graduation receiving $16,000 each.

 

In 1999 Harcourt Educational Measurement was fined more than $1 million by the state of California when the company indicated that 250,000 students had a better command of English than they actually did.

 

In 2002, 736 sophomores and juniors in Nevada were mistakenly notified that they’d failed the state’s proficiency exam (which must be passed to earn a high school diploma).

 

Henriques and  Steinberg declared that the most serious problem to date may be with CTB/McGraw Hill (publishers of the CSAP).  "An error discovered in the test, the most far-reaching in the recent history of school testing, jolted school districts in at least six states.  Including New York City, where it mistakenly sent nearly 9,000 students packing off to summer school."

   [Henriques, Steinberg.   'Right Answer, Wrong Score: Test Flaws Take Toll.' New York Times, 20, May 2001]

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