Suit filed over wrong results on test scores

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2002 | 11 a.m.

A Las Vegas attorney has filed a class action suit against Harcourt Educational Measurement on behalf of the more than 700 Nevada students who were incorrectly told by the company that they had failed the state's High School Proficiency Exam last spring.

Harcourt was fined $475,000 by the Nevada Board of Education in August over the mistakes in grading the examinations given last spring. A national testing firm, Harcourt has a $4.8 million contract with the state to administer the high school exit exams.

The board put Harcourt on notice, warning that any future errors would result in the loss of the state contract.

The company told 736 Nevada high school sophomores and juniors they had failed the mathematics portion of the exam when they had actually passed. According to the suit filed in the 8th District Court, the company's negligence was "extreme and outrageous, and caused severe emotional distress."

Harcourt officials admitted mistakes were made and assured members of the state board at a meeting this summer that the problems had been rectified.

Richard Blake, vice president of communications for Harcourt, said this morning the company has not yet seen a copy of the class action suit and cannot comment until it is served.

Harcourt is checking whether students paid out-of-pocket for summer school or other remedial courses after being mistakenly told they failed the test, Blake said.

"Our intention is to reimburse those students," Blake said.

The suit seeks damages in an amount greater than $10,000 but less than $75,000 for each of the proposed class members.

Harcourt was ordered to pay $275,000 to the state education department, $100,000 to the school districts and $50,000 earmarked for library books.

Marcia Washington, a member of the state education board, had opposed the fine, saying the money should go directly to the students and their families.

Washington said Monday she hoped the class action suit would go forward.

"The parents and children should be compensated for the heartache they went through," Washington said. "They're the ones who actually went through the stress and the strain. We added insult to injury when we let the company get off with paying the state and the districts and forgetting all about the students."

Correcting the reporting error cost the Clark County School District over $10,000 in staff overtime and supplies, said Judy Costa, director of testing for the district.

Costa said her staff checked the records of the 437 Clark County students who had been incorrectly told they failed the exam to make sure none had dropped out of school. All of the students are enrolled this year with the exception of one pupil who moved out of the area, Costa said.

None of the students signed up for the remedial summer school course specifically designed to help pupils pass the state test, although eight students did enroll in algebra or geometry, Costa said.

"Fortunately, none of our students affected were seniors," Costa said. "Imagine a student missing out on getting their diploma because of a mistake like this."