SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s top education officials are going back to the standardized school testing company they moved on from a year ago after they abruptly canceled a contract with a replacement company whose system led to a flurry of technological glitches.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that state assistant superintendent Darin Nielsen told lawmakers Tuesday that the Utah Board of Education will give American Institutes for Research a three-year, $21 million contract. He says the state is fortunate the company was available to step in and run the tests next year.
The decision comes two weeks after the board voted to rescind a 10-year, $44-million contract it signed last year with Minnesota-based Questar Assessment Inc. A host of technological problems during spring testing has created uncertainly about whether this year’s test scores will be validated.