State of Oklahoma
House of Representatives
May 1, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Representative Ben Sherrer
State Capitol Building Rm. 500
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Sherrer Criticizes Proposal to Address Online Testing Problems
OKLAHOMA CITY – The State Department of Education’s proposal to use partially completed test results is intolerable, state Rep. Ben Sherrer said today.
“The determination that unanswered questions will be scored as incorrect answers is absolutely intolerable,” said Sherrer, D-Chouteau. “The interruption of the test should invalidate the test. No student should be penalized as a result of the failure of the State Department of Education or its paid contractor to properly deliver the online test.”
Sherrer said the testing scores under the proposal would be grossly different from what the students would have achieved on the test.
“I find it offensive that this proposal is deemed by the State Department to ‘. . . assist in a small way with the disruption.’ The algebra EOI test is high-stakes for our students. Our local schools’ A-F grades depend upon student performance on these tests. I can’t believe the State Superintendent would propose to solve testing malfunction problems by using incomplete testing results and rating unanswered questions as incorrect.”
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