Sloppy translations lead state officials to invalidate nearly 30 questions from English language arts and foreign-language versions of the state math exam.

A series of nearly 30 errors have been found on the 2012 New York State English language arts (ELA) and foreign language math tests. In most cases, the errors resulted in questions where there was no right answer. In other instances there were several correct answers.

Twenty of the mistakes were on the translated math tests. Three questions on the English version were also inaccurate and there were errors on the 8th grade ELA Test as well. The NYS Education Commissioner scrapped part of that test.

According to the New York Daily News, the errors point to problems with the state’s $32 million contract with testing company Pearson, which is already taking heat over previous mistakes.

“Clearly, Pearson can’t deliver what they were contracted to provide to the state, and our children are suffering for it,” said Patrick Sullivan, Manhattan representative to the city’s Panel for Educational Policy.

“State Education Department officials 'are trying to increase the amount of testing, which is wrong to begin with, and they’re not paying attention to the quality of it.'”

The state offers the high-stakes math test in five foreign languages, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, for the benefit of elementary and middle-school students who are still learning English.

The foreign language versions all had at least one question disqualified.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• More about translation
  Using a 3-step process ensures that documents are rendered seamlessly and accurately into the languages of your choice, preserving every bit of their original meaning and nuance.
• New York State High-Stakes Exams: More Errors Found In Questions On Standardized Tests
  The errors on New York's state exams just keep mounting.
• Ay caramba! Foreign language school exams hit
  New York Daily News story by Rachel Monihan
• More about Pearson
  "Pearson is the world's leading education company. From pre-school to high school, early learning to professional certification, our curriculum materials, multimedia learning tools and testing programmes help to educate millions of people worldwide - more than any other private enterprise." --Pearson at a glace

Sloppy translations lead state officials to invalidate nearly 30 questions from English language arts and foreign-language versions of the state math exam.

A series of nearly 30 errors have been found on the 2012 New York State English language arts (ELA) and foreign language math tests. In most cases, the errors resulted in questions where there was no right answer. In other instances there were several correct answers.

Twenty of the mistakes were on the translated math tests. Three questions on the English version were also inaccurate and there were errors on the 8th grade ELA Test as well. The NYS Education Commissioner scrapped part of that test.

According to the New York Daily News, the errors point to problems with the state’s $32 million contract with testing company Pearson, which is already taking heat over previous mistakes.

“Clearly, Pearson can’t deliver what they were contracted to provide to the state, and our children are suffering for it,” said Patrick Sullivan, Manhattan representative to the city’s Panel for Educational Policy.

“State Education Department officials 'are trying to increase the amount of testing, which is wrong to begin with, and they’re not paying attention to the quality of it.'”

The state offers the high-stakes math test in five foreign languages, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, and Spanish, for the benefit of elementary and middle-school students who are still learning English.

The foreign language versions all had at least one question disqualified.

Alex Dupont

See Also

• More about translation
  Using a 3-step process ensures that documents are rendered seamlessly and accurately into the languages of your choice, preserving every bit of their original meaning and nuance.
• New York State High-Stakes Exams: More Errors Found In Questions On Standardized Tests
  The errors on New York's state exams just keep mounting.
• Ay caramba! Foreign language school exams hit
  New York Daily News story by Rachel Monihan
• More about Pearson
  "Pearson is the world's leading education company. From pre-school to high school, early learning to professional certification, our curriculum materials, multimedia learning tools and testing programmes help to educate millions of people worldwide - more than any other private enterprise." --Pearson at a glace