McGraw-Hill Withdraws From Bidding Process For OK Winter Tests

Testing vendor CTB/McGraw-Hill will withdraw from the bidding process for winter assessments in Oklahoma, according to the State Department of Education. 

The vendor is responsible for back-to-back years of disruptions during high-stakes standardized tests for Oklahoma students. 

On September 25, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to table a would-be sole-source contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) had recommended using CTB for the winter assessment window. 

According to officials, an estimated 51,000 tests are expected to be given during that period, the bulk of them being end-of-instruction (EOI) exams necessary to meet high school graduation requirements.

9/25/2014 Related Story: Education Board Refuses To Vote On McGraw-Hill Contract

The OSDE is continuing its work with Oklahoma's Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) to see if any other viable solutions exist. In addition, last week the department submitted a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the spring EOI exams to OMES for review and approval since OMES is responsible for issuing the RFP.

OSDE staff had recommended CTB/McGraw-Hill for the $2.8 million contract because of limited time to realistically initiate an entirely new testing platform before the testing window begins in mid-November.

At the request of OSDE, the Board of Education voted in June to terminate the state contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill. The action came after glitches during the spring 2014 testing. The board is expected to hold a special meeting within the next several weeks to take up the matter.