Florida's new test, same as the old test

By Greg Sampson
Got this tidbit in my email:

The New Mexico State Procurement Office on Wednesday denied a protest by the American Institutes for Research, which had delayed contract work to develop the assessment for next year. The work can now proceed.

Mitchell Chester, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education for Massachusetts and Chair of the PARCC states Governing Board issued the following statement:

"This is great news for New Mexico and all of the PARCC states. We have been confident from the start that New Mexico conducted a fair and open request-for-proposals process, and this decision confirms that. It also allows us to get back to the work started by states and strengthened by thousands of teachers: developing a new generation of high-quality assessments designed to better measure whether students are on track for college and careers. PARCC is not a product that states have chosen to buy; it's an assessment system they have worked to build together. Our states and schools are moving forward in their decision and implementation processes."

Hanna Skandera, New Mexico's Secretary of Education, issued the following statement:

"We're grateful to see a resolution that prioritizes New Mexico's students as well as those in other states. As we've said from the start, this has been an open and fair process with the singular goal of improving student achievement in New Mexico.

"The State Purchasing Agent saw this protest for exactly what it is when he said: 'No vendor, including AIR, has any right to substitute its own views and business policy decisions for any state agency.' "

Non-profit or for-profit, it’s all the same. Keep flying those hurricane flags, Florida, as we enter into the FLAIR era (Florida American Institutes of Research test.) BTW, did you know PARCC has hired Pearson for the actual administration of their tests?