ATLANTA - With another school year under way, the state has decided to quit trying to get accurate scores on a standardized test administered last spring to evaluate third-, fifth- and eighth-grade students. <br>
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``If we don't have them now, it is not going to do any good,'' state Board of Education chairwoman Cathy Henson said Friday. <br>
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The Stanford 9 test was used to determine whether students need extra help, to help qualify students for gifted programs and to compare Georgia children to other students nationally. Some school systems also have used the students' scores on the Stanford 9 tests in helping to determine merit pay for their teachers. <br>
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The company that produces the test, Harcourt Educational Measurement, says it could solve the problems if it had more time. <br>
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State officials first noticed a problem in May. Scores on the 2002 test rose or fell by up to 24 percentage points from 2001, whereas a change of 1 to 3 percentage points is considered normal. <br>
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The problem stemmed from ``equating'' the 2002 test to the 2001 test to make sure they are of equal difficulty. Harcourt used a common equating method, but the numbers simply didn't add up. <br>
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The company called in three national testing experts to try to fix the problem. <br>
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This is the second year Harcourt Educational Measurement failed to provide results of its Stanford 9 test in time to be used to assess Georgia's students. <br>
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Under the state's contract with Harcourt, the Board of Education can fine the company for this year's failure. The contract also calls for the state to pay Harcourt about $600,000, but the Department of Education is unlikely to give them anything, officials said. <br>
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The Stanford 9 is used in many states, but Harcourt president Dean Nafziger said the scoring problems are unique to a version of the test developed specifically for Georgia. <br>
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``To all of the parents, students and teachers who have been awaiting these scores, I want to express regret to them that they are not going to get them,'' said Harcourt President Dean Nafziger.
