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Mistake made in AIMS

By Kelly Pearce The Arizona Republic March 18, 2000

The company that scored last spring's AIMS test erred on the math portion, meaning that 142 more kids passed than first thought.

State educators discovered that National Computer Systems used the wrong answer key to grade an algebra question and told school districts Thursday.

That means that 12 percent of students statewide passed the math section, up from 11 percent. In all, 91 schools are affected.

The Education Department refused The Arizona Republic's request for the question, saying that the test is private.

The Iowa testing company will pay to reprint test reports.

Mike Flamer, who has a son at Scottsdale's Desert Mountain High School, was forgiving: "It happens. We're human."

Sophomores took a test run of AIMS last spring, and though they did not have to pass to graduate, their scores will be on their final transcripts.

Anyone who failed one or all of the math, reading or writing sections must retake them.

Today's sophomores must pass Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards to graduate.

The scores of about 12,000 students, or 27 percent of the 44,245 who took the math portion last spring, will increase. The 13 kids who passed because they were credited for the wrong answer won't be penalized.

Still, said Kelly Powell, the department's testing director, "it stinks when you see this."

* * * http://www.azcentral.com/news/0318aimserror.shtml

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 18, 2000