Boston Public Schools chooses new exam school test provider after long battle

Boston Public Schools has chosen a new exam school test provider following many months of uncertainty after being dropped by its previous vendor due to equity issues.

The new vendor for the exam that is the ticket into some of Boston’s best schools will now be Oregon-based company NWEA, a self-described research-based not-for-profit organization.

The exam schools that will use this test will be Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School and John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, BPS announced Thursday night.

In February, BPS issued a request for proposals for a new exam after being dropped by the Education Research Bureau whose president said the misapplication of test scores from its exams by BPS was “perpetuating admissions outcomes that disproportionately affect students belonging to underrepresented groups.”

According to BPS, the RFP was intended to “ensure a fair test that is aligned to Massachusetts curriculum standards, is bias-free, and measures student knowledge and readiness for a rigorous high school curriculum.”

The first round of the RFP drew little interest, but ultimately BPS received three bids.

NWEA’s test is an untimed, computer adaptive “measures of academic progress growth” assessment in math, reading and language usage.

“BPS has identified a fair assessment that is aligned to the Massachusetts state standards, tests students on material they have learned in school, and has been reviewed and validated for bias,” said BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius in a statement.

“Our organization is driven by our mission of partnering to help all kids learn. This begins by making the needs of all students more visible to educators, so they can take action in support of students who have not had the same opportunities as their peers,” said Chris Minnich, CEO of NWEA.

For the first time, during the 2019-20 school year, the district administered the entrance exam to BPS sixth-grade students in their home schools. This change allowed students to take the test in a familiar environment instead of a various different testing locations.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2VGEgwQ