Approve the 1st Amendment to Agreement Between NCS Pearson, Inc. and Hillsborough County Public Schools (Information and Technology Division)

The proposed assessment contract between Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) and NCS Pearson, Inc. is an extension of the July 1, 2005 contract. NCS Pearson, Inc. is the sole provider of the Stanford Achievement Test, Tenth Edition (Stanford 10). This amendment would extend the present contract for a one-year period of time through June 30, 2011.

Highlights of the contract include the continuation of a 45% discount on catalog prices as was part of the original contract. In addition, scoring charges would remain at $0.60 per student for the upcoming year, and freight and handling charges would remain at 6% of the total purchase.

The Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (Stanford-10), is a series of norm-referenced, objective-based tests designed to measure achievement in the skills commonly found nationally in state and district curricula. The Stanford-10 combines the most useful characteristics of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests to provide information about the instructional needs of students. Students are tested using the Total Reading and Total Mathematics batteries. Students' scores are reported in National Percentile Ranks for Reading and Mathematics. The results of this test allow for comparison of the performance of district students with those tested nationally at the same grade level.

* Demonstrate consistent and effective teaching methods

There is an approximate cost of $100,000 a year for the purchase of tests.

The data retrieved from the administration will be used as an evaluation of the effectiveness of the instrument.