[lg policy] New York: Ay, caramba! Foreign language versions of school exams riddled with errors

[Harold Schiffman]

Ay, caramba! Foreign language versions of school exams riddled with errors

State throws out 20 questions, blaming bad translations, from test
versions in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian creole, Korean and Russian
Comments (1)
By Rachel Monahan / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 4:00 AM
		

Patrick Sullivan who is a member of the Panel for Education Policy
appointed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, right, speaks
to the media outside Brooklyn Tech High School, Tuesday, November 16,
2010, where the Panel for Education Policy was meeting to vote on
granting a waiver to schools chancellor designate Cathie Black.
Patrick opposed giving a waiver to Ms Black. (Photo by Robert Mecea)
Robert Mecea for New York Daily News

Patrick Sullivan, of the Panel for Education Policy, slammed New
York's school test maker, saying "Clearly, Pearson can't deliver what
they were contracted to provide to the state, and our children are
suffering for it."

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STATE OFFICIALS tossed out 20 questions from the foreign-language
versions of the state math exam, citing sloppy translations, the Daily
News has learned.

The latest revelations brought the total number of discredited state
exam questions this year to 29, including six related to the infamous
talking pineapple passage.

The foulups point to problems with the state’s $32 million contract
with testing company Pearson, which is already taking heat over the
previous mistakes.

“Clearly, Pearson can’t deliver what they were contracted to provide
to the state, and our children are suffering for it,” said Patrick
Sullivan, Manhattan representative to the city’s Panel for Educational
Policy.

“State Education Department officials “are trying to increase the
amount of testing, which is wrong to begin with, and they’re not
paying attention to the quality of it.”

The state offers the high-stakes math test in five foreign languages,
so that elementary and middle-schoolers who are still learning English
can take it.

The Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish versions all
had at least one question disqualified.

“When children are taking a test and come upon a badly worded
question, it can . . . affect their performance on the rest of the
test,” said Advocates for Children executive director Kim Sweet.

In addition to the mistakes on the foreign language exams, state
officials have disqualified three questions on the English-language
version of the math test.

That’s far more errors than before Pearson took over the test this year.

And on the reading tests and English-language math exams, there was
only a single typo in the past three years.

Pearson did not respond to requests for comment.

In response to revelations of more mistakes, state Regents Chancellor
Merryl Tisch defended the validity of the exams.

“I’m not going to excuse mistakes,” she said but added, “Do these
errors detract from the validity of the tests? No, I don’t believe
so.”

“Together with Pearson, we are reviewing proofreading protocols to
improve these outcomes in the 2012-13 test cycle,” said state
Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn. “In every instance where
errors were identified, they were fully addressed to minimize impact
on children.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ay-caramba-foreign-language-versions-school-exams-riddled-errors-article-1.1074805#ixzz1uTdWBBHM


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