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Illinois General Assembly --
Bassi Aghast at Standardized Testing Fiasco
Springfield, IL (March 9, 2006) -- State Representative Suzie Bassi (R-Palatine) today called on the State Board of Education to take immediate steps to resolve the fiasco caused by the failure of Harcourt Assessment Inc. to provide Illinois school districts with the materials they need to administer the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT).
Bassi said the failure of the Texas-based company to fulfill its contractual obligations to provide the needed test materials this week to school districts across the state has forced testing delays that negatively impact students and schools and may also affect federal funding.
“I am aghast that schools across the state have reported a variety of problems with the ISAT tests which were supposed to begin within the week,” said Bassi. “One school district in my area reported that testing materials did not arrive on time and were incomplete. There were also test errors in the written test. This has caused a scheduling nightmare for school districts and a lot of extra work. Not to mention the stress that this fiasco has caused for students who have prepared themselves to take the exam this week.”
Bassi said that Harcourt’s contract to revamp the ISAT exam began this year. The contract was awarded to Harcourt in 2004 after the company hired lobbyist John Wyma, a former top aid to Governor Blagojevich. The four-year contract is worth $16 million this fiscal year alone. “We have heard of these kinds of deals from this administration before, but the problems caused by this agreement have affected our children and impacted education in this state,” Bassi said.
Bassi along with Representatives Roger Eddy and Jerry Mitchell filed a resolution today requiring State Superintendent Randy Dunn to appear before a joint hearing of the House Committees on Elementary and Secondary Education and Elementary and Secondary Education Appropriations to answer all question about how the state standardized testing contract was awarded to Harcourt, how the company was to fulfill the contract, why the State Board of Education was not aware that the company could not deliver the materials on time, and what any testing delays may mean in terms of validity and compliance with federal requirements, specifically No Child Left Behind.
“My colleagues and I intend to get some answers in this hearing,” said Bassi. “We want to know how the State Board of Education intends to fix this problem to ensure that this never happens again in Illinois.”
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