After Flawed TNReady Test And Cancelled Contract, Another Company Will Do The Grading

Tennessee’s Department of Education has hired publishing giant Pearson to grade this year’s standardized testing, which was only partially finished.

This last-minute change is the result of the state’s decision to cancel a contract with Measurement Inc., the vendor responsible for this year’s TNReady tests.

This year’s results won’t be used to judge performance of schools and teachers.

But Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says the limited data will be made available for districts to review in the fall.

“It’s not going to be an exact science,” McQueen said to reporters during a conference call Monday, “but it at least gives you some information around how ready that classroom or that student was for the number of items that were presented to him or her.”

Pearson will receive all completed test materials and is expected to have them scored before a temporary contract expires in December.

Originally, Tennessee was supposed to administer Pearson’s PARCC test this year before switching to Measurement Inc. — the company blamed for recent testing glitches.

As far as next year, McQueen says the department is still searching for a reliable vendor.