The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the postponement of the tests for students in grades three through eight as the exam is moved to the fall.

09:03 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 7, 2005

BY JENNIFER D. JORDAN
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- A disagreement between Rhode Island education officials and the U.S. Department of Education could, in the worst case, end up costing the state thousands of dollars in federal education aid.

Last fall, Rhode Island Department of Education officials decided to change from March to October the month that students in grades three through eight take statewide math and English tests.

Rescheduling the tests this year made sense, especially as Rhode Island, along with New Hampshire and Vermont, has developed new tests that will be rolled out this fall, said Peter McWalters, Rhode Island's education commissioner.

The sweeping federal education reform law, No Child Left Behind, requires all states to test students in grades three through eight, starting in 2005. Because creating tests is so expensive, Rhode Island teamed up with two other New England states to develop the New England Common Assessment.

Rhode Island's portion costs $12.9 million spread over six years.

It doesn't make sense to test students twice within a few months, especially since the new tests are based on new standards. It would confuse students to study for the old and new tests simultaneously, said the three New England education commissioners in a letter they sent to Washington, D.C., last September.

Moving the test back means that elementary and middle school students have not been tested during the current academic year. Rhode Island officials say that shouldn't be a problem, because the students will be tested on the material in October. A year's worth of testing won't be lost, they say. Furthermore, Rhode Island saved $950,000 by not administering the spring tests, according to the state Education Department.

But the U.S. Department of Education sees things differently, and says the state is in "noncompliance" with No Child Left Behind, which requires yearly testing.

Three other states found to be in noncompliance have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now, the U.S. Department of Education has turned its attention to Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Federal officials say the three New England states were notified by then-Deputy Secretary Eugene Hickok that their proposal was unacceptable during a conference call in December.

McWalters has a different recollection of the conversation.

"There was a phone call, and Hickok expressed some concern with the testing schedule and said that he was leaving, but that we would hear something from his successor," said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the state Education Department. "But that call was not in and of itself definitive, and he didn't say, 'Your plan is being rejected.' Because if that was the case, we certainly would have had a different approach to the testing schedule."

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Education Department, Elaine Quesinberry, said no letter rejecting the New England states' proposal was ever sent, and that the official who placed the call, Hickok, has since left the department.

However, the U.S. Department of Education is standing by the yearly testing requirement, she said.

"Test results show if schools are making adequate yearly progress," Quesinberry said. "The law requires that they test and that they have that data annually."

Two years ago, federal officials withheld $113,000 in Title I money for poor schools from Minnesota for noncompliance. The U.S. Department of Education also took $737,327 from Georgia's Title I funds that year. In late April, Texas was fined $444,282 for exempting thousands of special-education students from federal testing requirements.

Quesinberry declined to comment on whether Rhode Island would also be penalized.

"We work with each state on an individual basis," she said. "You can't say, because there's been a penalty, there will be in every case."

Rhode Island education officials are defending their decision to postpone testing until October.

No Child Left Behind requires districts to report struggling schools and offer students alternatives. Rhode Island education officials say that by changing the test dates, these schools will be identified by the middle of the school year, in time to make adjustments and "incorporate required changes into the budget process for the upcoming school year."

Testing in the fall also allows students to review the previous year's material in September, then be tested, avoiding the "disruption" of testing in the spring, school officials said.

Staff writer Jennifer D. Jordan can be reached at jjordan [at] projo.com