October 18, 2007  

LANSING – Last week, there was a security breach of the MEAP’s writing prompt at grades 5 and 6. To ensure fairness to all students and to protect the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status of each school giving that test, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) directed all school districts to not give that writing test to any students who had not taken it yet and that all 5^th and 6^th grade students would have to take a replacement version of that part of the MEAP writing test.

Upon request by MDE, the U.S. Department of Education verified that the decision to give the replacement writing prompt to all 5^th and 6^th grade students was, indeed, the appropriate measure to take.

This morning, MDE received a verbal expression of concern from the U. S. Department of Education that failing to test all grade 5 and 6 students using a replacement prompt threatens the validity of the writing scores, and that there is a real risk that all schools in the state of Michigan with 5^th and 6^th graders would not make AYP if any other course of action were taken.

“We know that this is an unfortunate consequence of a newspaper’s revealing in a news article what those writing prompts were,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. “However, we have to be certain that we do everything necessary to be fair to all students; protect the integrity of the MEAP tests; and not put schools at risk of not making AYP.

“We appreciate the understanding of school districts, teachers, parents, and above all, the 5^th and 6^th grade students affected by this situation,” Flanagan said.

The replacement writing prompt will be delivered to schools by November 2, with schools directed to give the new part of the writing test between November 5-13. That one-week window for testing is being provided to accommodate this unplanned testing with schools’ previously planned local schedules.

No final cost estimates for this replacement test have been determined at this time, nor has any decision been made by MDE as to any consequences for the school district that allowed for the security breach of the MEAP test.

Following is an update given to Michigan school districts regarding the administration and return procedures for both the current MEAP tests and the replacement writing prompt for English Language Arts (ELA) at grades 5 and 6:

1. For grades 5 and 6 only, the existing MEAP ELA Part 1A has been compromised and will not be scored.
   
   
2. Students at grades 5 and 6 who have not already taken MEAP ELA Part 1A should skip Part 1A.
   
   
3. Part 1A responses from students who have already responded to the existing prompt are to be left as written on the answer document. They are not to be erased, modified, deleted, read, copied, or otherwise communicated in any manner.  Even though Part 1A is considered comprised, the entire answer document should continue to be treated as a secure document.
   
   
4. It is imperative that all grade 5 and 6 students complete all the parts of the existing ELA tests except Part 1A.
   
   
5. All testing using the existing forms must be completed during the current assessment window ending Friday, October 26, 2007. Secure materials are to be shipped to the scoring contractor according to the original instructions (with pickup date at the school no later than Wednesday, October 31, 2007).
   
   
6. Replacement prompts for ELA Part 1A are in the process of being printed. They will be shipped from the contractor to meet a delivery date to schools of November 1^st or 2^nd.  The delivery dates were selected to avoid having both the existing test and the replacement prompts in buildings at the same time.
   
   
7. The window for administering the replacement prompt is Monday, November 5, 2007 through Tuesday, November 13. All replacement materials should be shipped from schools to the Scoring Contractor by November 14.
   
   
8. In addition to the time needed to distribute test booklets and read directions, schools should schedule 50 minutes for students to respond to the prompt.  As with all MEAP tests, there is no time limit for students to respond.  Follow the procedures specified in the test directions for any student who needs additional time to complete their response.
   
   
9. The replacement prompts will be provided to schools in a “self-contained” test booklet, with one form containing one prompt for each grade.  The “self-contained” test booklet is a combination test booklet and answer document, similar to the grade 3 ELA and mathematics booklets.  A set of directions for the test administrator (three pages) will be shipped with the booklets.