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Last updated on Friday, June 21, 2013
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana Department of Education says some 78,000 students were kicked off ISTEP the system while trying to take the test this year.
Jessica Hayes of WISH TV8 reports that today, lawmakers will demand answers from Ellen Haley, president of McGraw-Hill, the company that runs the ISTEP tests.
Lawmakers say they have to know what went wrong in April so it never happens again.
Statewide, 482,000 students took the ISTEP exam; of those, 78,000 had server problems that could affect their scores.
Additionally, teacher bonuses and evaluations are tied to the ISTEP results.
Lawmakers also want to hear testimony from educators and the general public about the specific issues at their schools.
Ahead of this hearing, the state hired an independent, out of state contractor to review all the test results to see if they're valid.
State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz said school accountability, as well as teacher compensation and evaluation, are based in part of the data of the review.
The review began June 10 and is expected to last 4-5 weeks.
The review will cost about $58,000 of tax payer money, but McGraw-Hill could be fined and forced to repay the money.
Today's public hearing starts at 1 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Indiana Statehouse.
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