SAT flap prompts queries about WASL

State education officials who will tour the WASL scoring center in Iowa next week plan to question administrators about scoring accuracy.

That's because the same company that will pore over 1.6 million WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) test booklets this spring is also responsible for a string of embarrassing errors in grading the SAT college-entrance exams.

The latest batch of SAT errors by Pearson Educational Measurement came to light this week when the College Board, which administers the SAT, announced that 27,000 tests had not been "completely processed" and that an additional 375 students were given incorrect scores.

So far, 4,400 students out of 495,000 who took the test received scores that were too low and have since had their scores amended. The mistakes affected dozens of applicants to Washington universities.

Pearson, which has not yet offered an explanation for the latest errors, has previously blamed moisture on the test papers for causing machine-scanning problems.

Joe Willhoft, an assistant superintendent at the state's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, said the SAT scoring errors raise concerns about the WASL.

"Our contract does call for quality-control procedures, and we want continued assurances that that's the case," Willhoft said. "We want to understand what their response is to the problems from a quality-control perspective."

Pearson spokesman David Hakensen said that students shouldn't expect similar mistakes in the WASL: It's a "different test," he said simply.

The state is about halfway through a five-year contract with Pearson, Willhoft said. His understanding is that the company uses separate machines to grade the SAT and parts of the WASL, so the exact problems shouldn't be replicated. But he still wants the company to double-check its WASL procedures, he added.

"We have a very good history with this company," Willhoft said. "But we also expect them to be responsive to the questions we pose."

Willhoft said the Iowa trip was planned before the SAT problems came to light but now will have increased significance, especially for 10th-grade test scores.

The class of 2008 — this year's sophomores — is the first group of students who must pass the test (or an approved alternative) to graduate.

Douglas Kubach, the chief executive of Pearson, said in a release that the company regrets the uncertainty and disruption caused by the SAT errors and is "determined to take every possible necessary step to restore confidence in this process."

In 1999, about 410,000 WASL essays were scored incorrectly and later regraded at a cost of $600,000. The subcontractor that made those mistakes, NCS, has since been bought by Pearson.

Meanwhile, universities and colleges in this state have been receiving notification from the College Board about SAT mistakes.

At the University of Washington, 27 students who submitted SAT scores were affected, said Admissions Director Philip Ballinger. Of those, 15 students ended up applying to the UW. In most cases, the differences were so minor as to be inconsequential, Ballinger said.

But in two cases, the differences were in the 50- to 70-point range. Luckily, in both cases, Ballinger said, the university had not made a final decision whether to admit the candidates and is now able to use the correct scores in its review.

Other university representatives said mistakes in test scores were minor and didn't change the final admissions decisions.

At Washington State University, about 10 students' scores were incorrect; at Western Washington University, seven; and at Seattle University, six.

"It is a concern," said Mike McKeon, dean of admissions at Seattle U. "Without question, it undermines confidence in the test."

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com