Students in the Rush-Henrietta and Victor schools who took this year's Algebra II/Trigonometry Regents exam will get pass/fail grades instead of numerical scores because questions on the exam were in a study guide used in both districts.
Travis Anderson, spokesman for Rush-Henrietta Central School District, said a teacher there wrongly used a secure Algebra II field test given in the district last year to create a study guide for the June 21 Regents exam.
That study guide was shared with colleagues in the Victor schools, he said.
When school officials realized students had been prepped with questions that ended up on the exam, they reached out to the state Education Department for guidance.
The scores for test questions that appeared on the exam and in the study guide were eliminated. Striking those scores left too few points on the test to calculate a meaningful numerical grade, said Anderson.
Parents in both districts were notified of the pass/fail scores in letters sent by superintendents Dawn Santiago-Marullo and Kenneth Graham.
Santiago-Marullo said the circumstances behind the pass/fail Algebra II grades will be documented in student transcripts. Midterm scores, rather than the Regents exam, will be used to calculate overall course grades for the year.
Students who passed the course and the exam will still be eligible for Regents diplomas or Regents diplomas with advanced designation.
In his letter, Graham said staff members responsible for the exam security breach will be disciplined.
Anderson would not identify the staff members or elaborate on what disciplinary actions were being considered.
Jane Briggs, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department said the department is committed to providing assessments that are fair and valid for all students. Eliminating scores for the questions students inadvertently knew in advance "provides a valid assessment of student achievement for the affected students."
Students who failed the exam, which is given mostly to sophomores, will have to re-take the test the next time it is administered by the state. Due to cost-cutting moves, the test will not be given again until June 2012.
MCDERMOT@DemocratandChronicle.com
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