Disputes Between Agencies Hurting Test Program, Audit Finds

Squabbles and lack of communication between the two agencies that oversee California public schools are hurting the state’s high-stakes student achievement test program, a new audit has found.

A mediator is needed to resolve disputes between the state Board of Education and the superintendent of public instruction over the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, now in its third year, said the report released last week by the state auditor.

The Legislature asked for the audit last summer, after the test publisher, Harcourt Educational Measurement, miscalculated scores for some limited-English students and year-round schools. Those errors delayed release of 1999 test scores, and the state board reduced Harcourt’s fee $1.1 million.

The STAR test has become the central piece of Gov. Gray Davis’ school-improvement program. Schools are being ranked on the basis of those test scores and will become eligible for monetary rewards or for a three-year improvement program.

The Board of Education, whose 11 members are appointed by the governor, and the elected superintendent of public instruction have been fighting for decades over their roles.

“These conflicts will continue, and the test publisher will continue to find itself between two state entities issuing conflicting instructions, until a third party is designated to mediate disputes between the board and the department,” said the report by acting state auditor Mary Noble.

Board Executive Director John Mockler and Supt. Delaine Eastin agreed that communication has been a frequent problem.

However, Mockler said a mediator is not the answer. Many legislative proposals are pending that could change the structure of the state’s education oversight.

The issues involved are broader than the STAR program, so any solution should be, too, Mockler said.

Chief Deputy Supt. Scott Hill attributed much of the problem to board members’ or board staff’s working directly with the test publisher and not involving department staff members responsible for the test contract.

The report said the department did little monitoring of Harcourt’s performance during the first two years of the test, in 1998 and 1999. Hill said the department has not had enough staff.

The report said the superintendent needs to develop an annual plan to make sure Harcourt produces valid, reliable and comparable student scores.

Hill said the department is working on an annual testing report and will present it to the Legislature in a few weeks. But he noted that such planning is difficult when the testing program has changed dramatically every year since 1994.

“Long-term planning, no matter how desirable, remains something of a moving target,” Hill said.