Errors disrupt proficiency test

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.

High school seniors taking the state's math proficiency test Tuesday were interrupted when administrators discovered errors on a sheet of common formulas handed out to help students with their answers.

None of Tuesday's exam questions involved using the formulas that contained the errors, said Henry King, proficiency exam project manager for the state Education Department.

"Yes, there were typos," King said. "But were students freaking out, crying at their desks and failing the test as a result of the error, absolutely not."

The formula sheet included formulas for converting quarts into liters, inches into centimeters and pounds into kilograms. But some of the letters in the words "quart," "liter" and "inches" were missing, King said.

State education officials should have caught the mistake themselves when the formula sheet was proofed, King said.

"We're taking steps to ensure we do a better job next time," King said.

This was the latest mishap to plague students taking the most dreaded section of the Nevada State High School Proficiency Exam. Answer sheets for high schools in several school districts, including Western High School in Las Vegas, went missing after the April round of the exam but were located over the weekend by the testing company.

The state's high school proficiency exam is administered by Measured Progress, a New Hampshire-based company hired in by the state Education Department in November to take over a $13.4 million contract that runs through June 2007.

The prior testing company, Harcourt Measurement, was dumped by the state after a series of high-profile mistakes, including incorrectly telling thousands of students they had failed the state proficiency exam.

Stuart Kahl, president of Measured Progress, said earlier versions of the math test administered in February and April have been checked, and the formula sheet did not contain errors. The computer file used to print the most recent formula sheet was also checked Tuesday and no errors were found, Kahl said.

"Why this happened with this one batch, we don't know," Kahl said.

About 1,700 Clark County high school seniors, 12.5 percent of the class of 2005, need passing scores on Tuesday's math test in order to receive diplomas at graduation ceremonies next month. Students who do not pass the math, reading and writing sections of the exam are given certificates of attendance.

Sue Daellenbach, testing director for the Clark County School District, said she was relieved to learn that the printing error did not appear to have caused students to answer questions incorrectly.

The printing error was discovered early Tuesday, and an e-mail alert was sent to schools by state education officials, instructing administrators to go into the testing rooms and write out the missing words for the conversion formulas on the blackboard.

Ginger Reardon-Kalauokaaea, a senior at Las Vegas High School, said about half of the 30 students taking the test had already finished and left when a teacher came in and explained what the missing words were.

Reardon-Kalauokaaea said she didn't need to use the misprinted formulas to answer any questions on her test, but the disruption was still distressing.

"It upset the class," Reardon-Kalauokaaea said. "We're already stressed out. This is my last chance to pass before graduation."