The notion that educational reform is a long-term commitment that requires five to ten years to significantly raise achievement levels is incompatible with the term limits of political figures. A few years ago, in another state, three months were arbitrarily cut from a reporting schedule. Not suprisingly, there were errors. Given the capabilities of technology and the effectiveness of the newer psychometric techniques and software packages, high-quality work in testing is possible. However, too little time and too few resources are being provided to accomplish the quality control necessary for statewide testing programs as large and complex as many of today's programs.
Nobody wants errors in testing materials or reports of results.
They have the power to do a great deal to minimize the likelihood of errors in statewide testing programs. A few suggestions follow. Report results of a testing program in phases. The results that schools can use soonest are not the high-stakes school accountability results that require sophisticated scaling and equating analyses and many years' worth of data. These types of results do not require extensive analysis and can be released soon after scoring is completed.