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In preparing for the Praxis exam, I learned that ETS (Educational Testing Services) committed a mistake affecting the lives of 27,000 teachers in Boston during the 2003-2004 year. The Boston News published an Associated Press article, "Test Service Reaches Deal on Error Suits," which indicated 27,000 test takers received incorrect scores and 4,100 were told they failed. People lost jobs, families, and reputations. I contacted ETS three times to see if this problem could occur for the SLP exam. No one answered my questions or returned e-mails until I contacted ASHA, which in turn contacted ETS. I received an updated Praxis study guide and an e-mail from the ETS consumer advocate about the "unusual degree of public accountability" to several boards and auditors who oversee ETS's accountability.
Obviously such scrutiny failed those 27,000 people. Why did ETS have to be hauled into court and ordered to pay $11.1 million to those teachers? SLPs and audiologists should be concerned about whether this error spilled over into other tests. Questions about how this error might be affecting the SLP exam should be raised, as well as questions about how we would find out. Moreover, should ETS be trusted for anyone's score?
Gwendoyn Crawford-Angelos
Baton Rouge, LA
gwendolyncrawford@yahoo.com
Editor's note: See page 38 of the August 15, 2006 issue for a response from Educational Testing Service (ETS) to this letter.
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