The U.S. Department of Mis-Edjukashun
By Michelle Malkin
First, the U.S.
dropped out of a major international math competition
this summer. Now comes word that our student’s test scores on a major
international reading exam have been rendered invalid because the
contractor who printed the tests misnumbered the pages–and the
Department of Education
failed to proofread the booklets:In an episode that has embarrassed the Department of
Education, thousands of flawed testing booklets forced the invalidation
of United States reading scores on an international exam administered
without major mishap in 56 other countries.
The contractor that printed the faulty exams for the government is
reimbursing it $500,000, government officials said yesterday. But the
department admitted it had not proofread the tests.
“I’m really upset about this,” said Mark Schneider, commissioner of
the National Center for Education Statistics at the department. “It’s a
big embarrassment.”
The problem came on a test known as the Program for International
Student Assessment that allows students’ proficiency to be compared
with that of their international peers. It was administered to 5,600
American 15-year-olds last fall, as well as to students in the 30
member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development and in 27 less developed countries. Scores are scheduled
for release next month.
The error appeared to be the first major mishap leading to the
invalidation of American scores on an international test, Dr. Schneider
said. But a string of similar incidents brought flawed results on other
standardized exams, including the SAT’s and the state math and reading
tests used to judge schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Gotta love our federal educational bureaucracy: No Dunce Left Behind.