Minn. in market for new student testing company
The Minnesota Department of Education and a Washington D.C.-based testing company are parting ways.
In the spring, technical glitches caused delays for thousands of students taking online Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment tests.
Frustrated Minnesota education officials sent a letter in September to Washington D.C.-based American Institutes of Research, threatening to hold back payments if the company didn't address the problems.
American Institutes for Research officials said they addressed many of the problems, but blamed others on the Department of Education.
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They also accused state education officials of being "disrespectful and unprofessional" at times to the company's employees.
Company officials say they won't bid on a new testing contract when their current three-year, $61 million deal with the state ends in 2014.
Until then, the state will work with the company to improve testing, said Charlene Briner, chief of staff for the Department of Education.
"It's in the best interest of both parties to continue to work toward a successful completion of this contract," she said. "Our goal is that the next spring's testing administration goes more smoothly than what we experienced last spring."
Briner said the department likely will announce a new partnership with a different testing company by spring.