The UFT warns members about Regents exam scoring snafus

The union is blaming the city Department of Education and planning to complain to the state about widespread Regents exam scoring problems, according to this message that just went out to UFT members: 

Dear colleagues, The city Department of Education has bungled the Regents distributive scoring process this month. In response to the state Education Department’s requirement that teachers not score their own students’ exams, the city DOE created a convoluted system that is extremely inefficient. Teachers have been sent to citywide scoring sites, sometimes far from their home schools, only to be sent back to their own schools after several hours because there wasn’t enough work to do. And instead of scoring the actual test books, teachers this year must stare at scanned booklets on the computer screen. The DOE contracted with McGraw-Hill to do the scanning, which was supposed to be completed by June 17. McGraw-Hill has been scanning the booklets from a location in Connecticut and emailing them to the testing sites. The company has fallen behind on the ELA, U.S. History, Global Studies and Integrated Algebra Regents exams, so when teachers show up at the testing sites, there haven’t been enough essays to score. We remain concerned about the way the Regents distributive scoring process has been implemented. We have lodged multiple complaints with the DOE and we will be contacting the state Education Department. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep you posted. Sincerely, Janella Hinds and Sterling Roberson Vice Presidents for High Schools