Tampabay: Missing FCAT tests found at grader's Iowa offices

TAMPA -- Hillsborough school officials have found the 47 missing FCAT tests from Wharton High School, but the affected students may still have to retake the exam.

The tests turned up at their intended destination, in the Iowa City offices of NCS Pearson, the company contracted to grade the state's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests. They were found in a box marked "Do Not Score," said schools spokesman Mark Hart.

So nobody scored them.

Officials say the critical mistake apparently occurred at Wharton High, which is in New Tampa. The 47 students had missed the initial administration of the test and also missed the first makeup exam. That's why their test booklets were marked "Do Not Score."

The designation was supposed to be changed after the students took the test. That didn't happen.

Hart said the state plans to send one person from Wharton and one person from the testing administration office to grade all the valid tests.

"But there's a catch," Hart said. "The state is concerned that they will not be able to get the tests scored before the next opportunity to take the FCAT in October. It's not clear whether we'll have the scores on those tests before the October test date."

So John Hilderbrand, the district's director of assessment, accountability and evaluation, is sending a letter to the parents of the affected students explaining that they probably will need to take the test again.

"All students involved should assume they will retake the FCAT in October and prepare accordingly," Hilderbrand wrote Tuesday. "If a student passes the FCAT on either administration, they will have met the graduation requirement."

-- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com.

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