Pearson slammed for PARCC testing “disaster”
On 20 April, education services provider Pearson took the blame for halting the high-stakes Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exams in New Jersey due to a “glitch” in Pearson’s technology. New Jersey Education Commissioner David C. Hespe called the Pearson Access Next (PAN) system malfunction “totally unacceptable” as thousands of students expecting to take the test were left staring at blank screens. Pearson said it was "truly sorry" for the mass disruption, which has since been fixed and testing resumed on Thursday.
This has been a difficult media week for Pearson; the Huffington Post reported on an “International Campaign to Stop Pearson (Mis) Education” which accuses the company of overcharging vulnerable communities and demands that Pearson’s Board reverse the company’s “strategic direction.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post published “The case against Pearson” to which Pearson responded by publishing a letter on its website insisting it had recently carried out and shareholders had approved a “rigorous review of our business and operations" and claiming to invest “$1bn annually in creating better educational products and services around the world."

 

Schools PARCC Slams Pearson for New Jersey Shutdown "Mistakes like the one that occurred today are indefensible," says PARCC of an error made by a Pearson employee that shut down the system. Reply

PARCC, Inc. slammed its New Jersey test vendor, Pearson, after a Pearson employee accidentally caused a system-wide shutdown that prevented thousands of students in New Jersey from taking the PARCC test Wednesday morning.

"We are disappointed by the disruptions. These kinds of mistakes are unacceptable," said Laura Slover, CEO of Parcc Inc. in a statement. The error occurred after a Pearson employee actually tried to improve the computerized testing system Tuesday night, a Pearson spokeswoman said. However, instead of making it better, the employee unwittingly introduced a technical glitch that shut down the whole system.

The New Jersey Department of Education hired Pearson to administer the controversial PARCC test, which students take on computers. However, instead of logging on, thousands of students stared at blank screens Wednesday morning when the PARCC system crashed, leaving PARCC and the state education commissioners livid. "Mistakes like the one that occurred today are indefensible. It is important to us that these tests be administered in a way that eliminates avoidable disruptions and inconveniences, and earlier today, leaders from New Jersey and Parcc Inc. delivered that message to Pearson in the strongest possible terms," Slover added.

The shutdown was "totally unacceptable. This is not a problem on our end. This is a problem on Pearson's end," said New Jersey's Education Commissioner David Hespe. "We will hold Person accountable for their failures today." Pearson apologizes; mistake still not fixed

Pearson, the standardized testing service headquartered in Princeton, issued an apologetic mea culpa Wednesday. "This was a technical glitch introduced by a Pearson employee," said Pearson spokeswoman Laura Howe. "Last night, in an effort to optimize performance of the test administration system used in New Jersey, Pearson made some adjustments that were deployed Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. In doing this, Pearson introduced an unexpected problem that restricted access to the administrative system. We are correcting the issue and will work to ensure it does not happen again."