A07366 Summary:

BILL NO    A07366 

SAME AS    Same as S 3732

SPONSOR    Ortiz

COSPNSR    

MLTSPNSR   

Amd S342, Ed L

Establishes procedures and guidelines for which a test subject may request and
obtain information and materials regarding a standardized test.

A07366 Actions:

BILL NO    A07366 

03/31/2009 referred to education
01/06/2010 referred to education

A07366 Votes:

A07366 Memo:

BILL NUMBER:A7366

TITLE  OF  BILL:   An act to amend the education law, in relation to the
administration of standardized tests

PURPOSE:

The provisions of this bill address several  issues  regarding  existing
laws  governing  and practices of standardized testing and test agencies
in New York State. Of particular concern are the rights of test subjects
to have access to their answers, the  test  questions  and  the  correct
answers after the test has been scored by the testing agencies. In addi-
tion,  this legislation addresses several areas of concern regarding the
oversight of high-stakes testing  and  the  policies  that  standardized
testing agencies have adopted regarding the testing and scoring of these
written exams. In an effort to address this issue, this bill establishes
the  New  York  State  Board of Testing Integrity in the state education
department to oversee and evaluate the integrity of the  entire  testing
process in New York State.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

After  a test subject has completed and submitted a standardized test as
defined in section 342 of the education law, existing law  requires  the
testing agency to make available, upon request, a copy of the test ques-
tions,  a  copy  of the test subject's answers and a copy of the correct
answers for that exam. The legislation establishes  a  thirty-day  prior
and  at  least ninety-day post-test administration period during which a
test subject can request such information.

The bill also requires that the testing agencies provide a means for the
test subject to request the  information  through  an  on-line  internal
based  link, and that forty-five days after the results of any standard-
ized tests are released, the test agency must provide  the  information,
if requested, within twenty-five days of the request.

The  test  agency  must  also maintain a record of all requests for this
information and a record of all errors found by the test subject.   They
must  also  provide  an explanation for such errors and what the outcome
was regarding any changes in the test subject's raw  and  scaled  score.
The  bill  eliminates  the previously established "nominal" fee that the
testing agencies could charge for providing  this  information,  instead
the bill limits this fee to ten dollars and requires a portion of future
year-to-year earnings and corporate management salary growth to be allo-
cated  to  offset  the  cost  of providing the test taker with a copy of
their questions and answers.  Finally, the bill establishes a  New  York
State  Board  of  Testing  Integrity to oversee and make recommendations
regarding all aspects of the administration of standardized tests in New
York. The legislation states that the focus of the Board is to represent
and protect at all times the interests of the test subjects  during  the
entire testing process. A fee of one dollar per test administered in New

York shall be paid by each testing agency which shall be deposited in an
account to be used to pay for and support the Board's activities.

JUSTIFICATION:

Over  the  last  decade, we have become a society ever more dependent on
the use of  standardized  tests  as  a  measure  of  assessing  academic
performance.  Students  as young as eight years old are taking standard-
ized tests and are being judged based on the  results  of  those  tests.
However,  over  time  we  have  seen many instances where the results of
these tests have come into question. Most recently,  over  4,000  SAT  I
exams  had  errors in scoring, some of which were small, others resulted
in significant scoring errors of over 300 points.

On May 2, 2006, the Senate Higher  Education  Committee  held  a  public
hearing  at which testimony was provided by the President of the College
Board, the President of the  Education  Testing  Service,  the  National
President  of Pearson, Inc., the President of Fair Testing and a student
directly impacted by the testing agency scoring  errors.    During  this
hearing  several issues were raised regarding the overall administration
of the test. Of particular concern is the lack  of  oversight  over  the
testing agencies and the lack of quality control to ensure the reliabil-
ity  and  validity of administration and scoring of the tests. For exam-
ple, the College Board testified that they do not currently practice any
quality control with regard to the test product to ensure reliable scor-
ing. Instead, they rely on the test subjects who have paid an additional
fee of at least $24.00 for a copy  of  the  test  questions   and  their
answers  and  the  correct answers to ensure that no scoring errors have
occurred. In effect, the test agency is charging  the  test  subject  to
conduct their own quality control audits.

The  provisions  of  this  legislation  and the creation of the New York
State Board of Testing Integrity are much needed common sense  additions
to  the  Standardized  Testing laws already adopted by New York State in
order to help ensure a fair process where the interest  of  the  testing
agency on the test subject are balanced and equitable.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2007-08, S.5030-A; 2005-06, S.561-B

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This  act  shall  take  effect  on the first of September in the year in
which it shall have become a law, provided, however, that a test  agency
shall  not  be  required to revise its application brochure or forms for
the test year commencing September 1, 2010 to incorporate  the  require-
ments of this act.