BY CHERYL BURKE

NEWS-TIMES

The state's first official attempt at end-of-grade (EOG) online testing for special needs students has gotten off to a shaky start.

Complaints about the tests have come from school districts across the state, including Carteret County.

Computer glitches caused a few special needs students in Carteret County, who were tested last week, to retake sections of the exam.

A programming error in Johnston County forced more than 300 students to retake the test.

Dr. Ralph Lewis, director of testing for the Carteret County school system, said locally the main problems were Web servers not being available, students being cut off in the middle of the test, and incorrect graphics for math problems.

"The main problems we experienced were with the math section," he said.

Dr. Lewis said all students have now been retested. Of the county's third through eighth-grade students, 204 took some version of the special needs end-of-grade test.

Other complaints from across the state included programming errors and confusion over how to adjust Web browsers and work around firewalls.

State Department of Public Instruction officials say they're attempting to correct mistakes and help school districts deal with technology issues.

Last year was a pilot year for the exam, which is intended to enable greater numbers of special education students to take part in the state's standardized testing program.

Questions on both the math and reading portions of the exam adapt to each student's ability level. A correct answer is followed by a harder question. An incorrect answer is followed by an easier question.

While students are still held to grade level standards, adjustments allow students to answer more questions, according to Dr. Lewis. This provides more information about a student's achievement level than on a normal paper test.

Some special needs children will continue to use other means of assessment, such as portfolios and paper EOGs with modifications.

State school officials had hoped last year's pilot test would work out glitches. But there were problems with the pilot test when demand far exceeded the state's Web server capacity. This resulted in several school districts not being able to test the exams.

After the first two days of this year's exam, the state found problems with the math section. Problems included graphics files missing and a programming error that gave students easier questions instead of harder ones as they correctly answered questions.

Since the county's school year runs later than most state school districts, Carteret County administers EOGs later than their state counterparts. So many of the glitches were already worked out by the time county students took the exam, according to Dr. Lewis.

But there are still bugs to be worked out, he said.

"One problem with the test is once a student answers a question they aren't able to go back and change their answer," Dr. Lewis said.

"Another problem is some kids are taught when they work with paper and pencil that they can write on their answer sheet. But you can't do that on the computer exam."

Another problem, according to Dr. Lewis, is that when students are answering questions related to reading passages, they have to scroll back to find their answers instead of having the questions visually near the passage.

With so much riding on the tests under the ABCs accountability program, some say the bugs need to be worked out before holding students accountable.

This year students in grades three, five and eight that don't score proficient on the exam risk being retained a grade level.

But Dr. Lewis said several other factors are considered when promoting special needs students.

"The final decision on retention rests on the principal. The principal looks at a number of factors, such as the child's progress in school," Dr. Lewis said.

"If a child goes through a waiver review, the committee's recommendation is considered. They also look at the progress the child has made toward meeting grade level standards and goals set on their individual education plan (IEP)."

Problems with the special needs section of the EOG are among several reported with the state's testing program. There were problems on last year's math portion of the EOG when it was discovered the test had been calibrated too low, resulting in students scoring too high on the exam.

There are questions on this year's fourth-grade N.C. Writing Test, with the release of results postponed because of questions over students being scored too low.

And, this week several errors were discovered on the state's first N.C. School Report Card, which is supposed to give parents data on their child's school and school district.

The state Department of Public Instruction postponed its release to review and correct errors.

Results were originally scheduled for release on May 22, but several school districts, including Carteret, discovered errors in data. The data has now been reposted on the Web, with school districts still conducting reviews.

As well as comparisons on EOGs, the report card gives information about minorities, teacher qualifications and class sizes.

News-Times

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2002