DOE Reaches $3 Million Settlement With CTB/McGraw-Hill

The Indiana Department of Education has reached a $3 million settlement with test vendor CTB/McGraw-Hill, after technological glitches interrupted  state standardized ISTEP tests in the 2012-13 school year.

Under the terms of the settlement, CTB will credit Indiana around $450,000 toward developing a new contract. In addition, the state will get $2.9 million in credit for in-kind products and services from CTB.

State Superintendent Glenda Ritz announced the terms of the settlement at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting. There, CTB officials told board members they had reached the agreement with Ritz’s agency in October.

This surprised a few board members. Brad Oliver said it was the first he had heard of the settlement. He likened the situation to a moment at last month’s meeting, when the board questioned Ritz’s transparency regarding submission of amendments for the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver.

“I’m not fighting with the superintendent, I’m pleading with her. Her ability to give us accurate, timely information and our ability to make decisions together serves our kids far better than the path we’ve been on,” Oliver said.

Indiana extended its testing contract with CTB for the 2014-15 school year, and the company is already developing a new assessment to match the state’s new academic standards. 

However, Indiana will have an open bid to operate student testing beginning in the 2015-2016 school year.