Bedfordtimesregister.com - School districts short on achievement tests

by Lauren Krupar

Hudson Hub-Times Associate Editor

The Ohio Department of Education is investigating how 450 districts across the state were shorted a specific form of Ohio Achievement Tests.

"Districts across the state did not receive the correct number of forms," said Scott Blake, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Education, adding the districts were scheduled to receive the forms May 2, a week later than planned. "We had enough printed, but there was some problem in getting the forms to the schools. We haven't yet figured out what."

The Ohio Achievement Tests are given to students in grades three to eighth and are a measurement included on the state report cards. The last two weeks in April were reserved for districts to administer the tests, with the first full week of May set aside as a make-up week, Blake said.

Some students in districts who did not receive enough forms will have to take the tests later than planned.

"This should not delay the reporting of the state report card," Blake said, adding the reports cards are released by mid-August. "Districts can test the students during the regularly scheduled make-up week."

The tests that were short are a special read-aloud test called Form A. Approximately 800,000 students across the state take the OATs annually, with 16,000 students using the Form A method.

The Ohio Department of Education, which ordered 20,000 Form A Ohio Achievement Tests, will have printed an additional 40,000 of the forms by the time testing ends. The additional tests are "not something that is going to blow the budget," Blake said, adding he does not know how much the additional printing cost.

While some districts received fewer tests than ordered, others received more, prompting neighboring districts to share the forms and implying the system used for ordering the tests was faulty, Blake said.

"There were enough products shipped, but something happened during the ordering process," he said, adding the department recently adopted new rules in how districts order Form A OATs. "There will be some digging in figuring out what the cause was."

While department of education officials investigate, districts such as Hudson and Stow are left with the task of testing their students a week later than anticipated.

District officials in Hudson say 120 seventh- and eighth-graders will need to take the test a week later than planned while officials with the Stow-Munroe Falls School District are planning for 147 additional Form A tests.

Stow-Munroe Falls district officials say they originally ordered 140 tests, but later learned additional students qualified to take the test, prompting the district to order more.

District officials with the Tallmadge school system said while they received fewer forms than ordered, the error was discovered sooner and additional tests were ordered in time.

E-mail: lkrupar@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146