Pencil-Biting Scenarios
For some reason, we all seem to have a bit of morbid curiosity when it comes to “the worst” situations our fellow testers have faced—though we hope we never experience the same ourselves! But for those with such a curiosity, we’ve pulled a couple of “case files” for your enjoyment (and warning!).
Lightning Strikes Twice!
For those who believe lightning never strikes the same place twice, check the statistics for the Empire State Building! In this case, the tester accidentally swapped the achievement tests for two students. When the tests arrived for scoring, we noticed that the sixth grader had taken the eighth-grade test and vice versa for the eighth grader.
The family chose to retest with the correct grade levels. The 6th grader was especially relieved to learn that the “sixth grade” questions would be easier this time around. And they were—except the tester switched answer sheets this time! So after getting the answers transferred to new correct documents, the children were finally able to get their tests scored.
Moral: Always read the Checklist before starting the tests and double-check your paperwork!
An Ounce of Prevention . . .
Insurance is one of those things you hope you will never need. But when your package reaches us mangled, it’s something you’re really glad to have. Sadly, in this case, it took us three days to piece together the package identification, and not only were the testing books torn to shreds or missing, but also almost half of the homeschool group’s answer sheets were destroyed to the point of being ungradable. We couldn’t even decipher the answers enough to transfer them to new documents. It ended up that nearly a dozen students had to retake the test.
The worst part was that the tester, wanting to keep costs down so that she could offer her services for free, had skipped the insurance on the package. When insurance would have covered most, if not all, of the costs for replacement tests and answer sheets, the tester faced the responsibility instead. She also had to reschedule with each of the families for individual test sessions since none of their schedules coincided for a group session.
Moral: Always get insurance. And do your test-takers a favor by charging at least a nominal fee for your services: It sets a value on your time and covers important costs—like insurance for shipping.
On the Bright Side
We hope this helps satisfy your curiosity as to some of the worst testing scenarios our office has seen . . . and that it helps you avoid similar pitfalls. But remember, if you’re ever confused or have questions, we’re just a phone call (or email) away. And we’d love to meet you, even if it’s just over the phone!