2015/04/16 – The Mississippi Board of Education on Thursday approved a $122 million contract with Questar Assessment to test hundreds of thousands of school children starting next year.

Questar, headquartered in Minneapolis, was among three companies vying for the 10-year deal during a heavily scrutinized process shrouded in secrecy.

Allegations surfaced shortly after the Mississippi Department of Education’s invitation in February for vendors to compete for the contract. Some claimed the agency tailored its request so that only one company – Pearon – would win. MDE denied that.

The agency also denied The Clarion-Ledger’s request in March to release the names of vendors that submitted proposals, even though such information is considered public record. The newspaper challenged its records denial.

Board Chairman John Kelly dismissed claims of secrecy during the board’s monthly meeting Thursday at MDE’s central office.

“From the very beginning, we’ve attempted to be very transparent about it,” Kelly said. “We followed all the state policies.”

Starting next school year, Questar will administer Mississippi’s statewide assessment to students in third through eighth grade. It also will administer the Algebra I and English II subject-area tests given to students, typically in high school.

Data Recognition Corporation and NCS Pearson also submitted proposals, each of which averaged about $12 million less than Questar but scored lower overall in their technical and management plans, according to information released Thursday.

Pearson has the current, one-year contract to handle this year’s statewide assessments. It won the nearly $8.4 million deal in September after the Mississippi Personal Services Contract Review Board rejected MDE’s multi-year contract to the company.

When the state switches to Questar, students will take just one end-of-year assessment instead of the two they’re required to take now. They also will see a variety of test items, including multiple choice questions and questions that require them to write out their answers.

Test items will come directly from Mississippi teachers who Questar will assemble each year to help devise the questions, which will align to the state’s college-and-career-ready academic standards.

The nine-member board voted unanimously to approve the contract with one member, Charles McClelland, abstaining.

“We are very happy,” said state Superintendent of Education Carey Wright after the vote. “They are in 19 different states, and it makes us confident to know that other people use them and have had good experiences with them.”

COMPETING VENDORS

Three companies submit proposals to administer statewide student assessments to Mississippi school children each for year 10 years. An eight-member team of evaluators scored the proposals based on their technical plans (worth a possible 112 points), project management plans (worth up to 64 points), cost (44 points) and demonstration (50 points) for a maximum potential score of 270.

WINNER: Questar Assessment Inc

Score: 227.53

Ten-year price: $133,717,267

* MDE negotiated a lower price with Questar than what it initially proposed. It’s now roughly $122 million.

RUNNER-UP: Data Recognition Corp

Score: 217.39

Ten-year price: $120,621,969

RUNNER-UP: NCS Pearon Inc

Score: 200.28

Ten-year price: $122,977,796

(Mississippi Department of Education’)

Source: The Clarion Ledger 

Emily Le Coz