Students get ready to retake assessment

Riverside Middle School eighth-graders will be sharpening their No. 2 pencils as they prepare to retake the Middle Grades Writing Assessment.

Columbia County School Superintendent Tommy Price told board members Tuesday night that the State Department of Education will allow the students to retake the test.

The test was administered to eighth-graders Jan. 21-24 but the results were ruled invalid when it was discovered that two teachers had used the same topic - or prompt - on a practice writing assignment before the test was given.

Students are tentatively scheduled to retake the one-and-a-half-hour test Feb. 26.

"This was certainly no fault of the students and they deserve to take the test again," Price said.

The school system will have to pay $1,500 for the new administration.

"We'll have to bite the bullet and bear the cost," Price told the board.

The investigation as to how the teachers obtained the question has not been concluded.

"That's still the missing element," said Price, who added that no disciplinary action has yet been taken.

"We will be following up with appropriate action based on our finding."