On Thursday, July 18, the Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) made a decision to terminate their contract with NWEA, as reported by WJTV.
In the past, NWEA was responsible for administering the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) exams for grades 3-8, Algebra I, and English II in both English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. However, for the 2024-25 school year, the SBE has awarded an emergency contract to Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) to take over the administration of these assessments.
According to SBE officials, the contract with NWEA was terminated due to the company’s incorrect scoring of the majority of initial MAAP assessment results administered in the spring of 2024. However, NWEA did rectify the errors and released updated assessment results to districts on July 12, after correcting the initial scores released on June 17. These updated results altered the scores for a number of grades and content areas. The officials have stated that the initial error did not impact the passing scores for the 3rd grade reading assessment for spring 2024 or any 3rd grade retests.
Before releasing the updated results to districts, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and its independent technical advisors thoroughly reviewed and verified their accuracy.
Dr. Lance Evans, the state superintendent of education, expressed strong concern over the errors that occurred during the statewide assessments. He stated that such errors are completely unacceptable, particularly when they are of this magnitude. Evans believes that it is the responsibility of the MDE and the State Board to ensure that the testing vendors they work with provide accurate, valid, and reliable data at all times.
Upon returning to school in the fall, the majority of Mississippi students receive their score reports for spring assessments, and thus, were not affected by the initial scoring error. However, officials have indicated that the mistake could have an impact on certain students who were seniors in spring 2024 and had to retake the English II assessment to meet graduation requirements. It’s important to note that school districts are required to report their 2024 graduation data to MDE by July 31.
In August, the results of the statewide assessment for all subjects and grades for the upcoming 2023-24 school year will be made public.
