INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): This afternoon, the Indiana Department of Education released a statement regarding the ISTEP+ damages. Lawmakers from both sides have said they wanted answers about the troubles with the tests that disrupted exams for almost 80 thousand students. The statement is below:  

VERBATIM:

The Indiana Department of Education announced preliminary damages that it will seek from CTB McGraw-Hill related to ISTEP+ interruptions experienced by schools throughout the state this spring.  These amounts are not final, and may well grow as results are reviewed by a third party and additional information is gained.

The preliminary damages amount sought will not be less than $613,600 and could reasonably go into the millions.  That amount includes $400,000 in liquidated damages provided for the contract between the Department of Education and CTB.  It also includes $53,600 that the Department will spend to have a third party conduct an analysis of the scores of students that had their testing sessions interrupted and at least $160,00 for other related costs associated with enhanced reporting data.

In addition to the preliminary damages, additional damages may be sought after further investigation.  Those potential damages include, but are not limited to:

-Reimbursement to Indiana schools for additional costs incurred to administer ISTEP+ during the extended testing window.

-Reimbursement to the Indiana Department of Education for additional costs incurred because of ISTEP+ testing interruptions.

“I have worked closely with CTB throughout the ISTEP+ testing process,” said Superintendent Ritz.  “The consequences of CTB’s server failures were real and significant for Indiana schools.  As Superintendent, I will work to ensure that schools are made whole while continuing to negotiate with CTB in good faith.”