Pearson’s gifted test score errors affected thousands of families
In the latest in a series of embarrassing snafus, the testing company Pearson miscalculated thousands of city students’ scores on tests to screen for giftedness.
According to the Department of Education, 2,698 children who were told they did not hit the city’s threshold for gifted and talented program eligibility actually made the cut. Another 2,037 children had scores high enough to apply to citywide gifted programs, but were told they could apply only to less elite district programs.
Together, Pearson miscalculated the scores of 13.2 percent of test takers — and undercounted the number of
According to the Department of Education, 2,698 children who were told they did not hit the city’s threshold for gifted and talented program eligibility actually made the cut. Another 2,037 children had scores high enough to apply to citywide gifted programs, but were told they could apply only to less elite district programs.
Together, Pearson miscalculated the scores of 13.2 percent of test takers — and undercounted the number of
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| PINEAPPLEGATE PART II |
Pearson admits major errors in gifted and talented exam scoring
A major screwup by the testing company Pearson caused some children to be told they did not make the cut for city gifted programs when in fact they scored high enough to be admitted.
It’s a Friday news dump of epic proportions, at least for the thousands of city families that had their children tested for gifted and talented eligibility this year. Previously, the city had said 9,020 students had scored above the 90th percentile on two tests, making them eligible for admission to G&T programs. The real number is higher, Pearson and the Department of Education said.
Pearson, which has had a rocky road in New York in recent years, is sending a letter to parents that contains a lengthy mea culpa.
“Pearson has an established record in this field and we depend on its professionalism and deep capacity to deliver for the public. But in this case they let our children and families down,” said Chancellor Dennis Walcott in a statement. “I have told the company’s officials in no uncertain terms that I expect this will never happen again.”
We’ll have a more complete story soon, including numbers of how many families are affected, but for now, here’s Pearson’s letter to parents and Walcott’s public statement.
Here’s Pearson’s letter to parents:
And here’s the statement from Walcott:
STATEMENT FROM CHANCELLOR DENNIS WALCOTT ON PEARSON GIFTED AND TALENTED EXAM ERRORSPearson, the company that developed our Gifted and Talented exam, has notified the Department of Education that it has discovered errors in the scoring of the most recent G&T exam.After an exhaustive review of Pearson’s data, it is clear to us that due to the company’s errors, many