Testing Vendor Scores $40 Million Contract Increase in Tennessee
State standardized tests are big business
Tennessee standardized testing vendor Pearson will soon be collecting $40 million more thanks to Gov. Bill Lee’s administration extending and adding to the testing company’s contract.
Tennessee Lookout has more:
Amid uproar over third-grade reading scores and the prospect of thousands of failing students, Tennessee lawmakers extended the testing vendor’s contract and bumped up the total payout by nearly $40 million.
The Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Review Committee voted Wednesday to tack on another year for British-based NCS Pearson to administer TNReady and increase the total contract to $132 million from $93 million. The state previously paid $30 million a year to Questar to handle its main K-12 test.
Pearson became the state’s testing vendor of choice after Tennessee had a difficult time transitioning to online tests several years ago:
