KIDS FACE NEW TEST EXAM TO REFLECT STANDARDS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

The state Board of Education picked a new standardized test Wednesday to replace the Stanford 9 exam students take each spring.

The new California Achievement Test, 6th Edition, will measure how well students know subjects deemed necessary by state officials, and the new contractor, the Educational Testing Service, will also develop the California Standards Tests and administer the overall Standardized Testing and Reporting program.

The board voted 6-2 to designate ETS as the STAR contractor for three years, beginning in 2003. President Reed Hastings, Joe Nunez, Robert Abernethy, Susan Hammer, Vicki Reynolds and Suzanne Tacheny voted for ETS, while Nancy Ichinaga and Erika Goncalves were opposed.

Now, ETS must enter into contract negotiations with the California Department of Education. A contract is expected to be brought to the board in June for final approval.

ETS already handles the SAT 1 and the state's high school exit exam.

Officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District said they were aware the state would be switching to a new basic skills exam and will be prepared to take the new test.

``Ever since the inception of the Stanford 9, they've always been modifying. There's been an evolutionary process, so there's always retraining and evolution and growing through this process,'' said Esther Wong, the district's associate superintendent of planning, assessment and research.

``Change is always a little hard, but the process and manner in which we administer the test won't change,'' she said.

Each year, the state's STAR program tests about 4.5 million students. It includes the Stanford 9, a test that compares students with others around the nation. STAR also includes the California Standards Tests, which measure how well students know subjects taught in the state's curriculum.

The new, three-year deal with ETS will cost less than the current standardized testing program, which costs $60 million a year.

Hastings said Wednesday's vote means the state will have tests that accurately measure ``the state's rigorous academic content standards.''

When it adopted the Stanford 9 test five years ago, it was the first time the state had measured its academic performance against achievement nationwide.

Until last year, the Stanford 9 had been the single factor in the state's Academic Performance Index, which measures school progress and provides cash bonuses to schools whose test scores improve.

Education officials said they always anticipated replacing the Stanford 9, administered by Harcourt Educational Measurement of San Antonio, Texas, after a certain number of years because achievement standards change. Officials also said students and teachers might grow familiar with the same exam.

The new test will be based on norms established in 2000 or later. Educators and testing experts evaluated four proposals, with ETS and Harcourt emerging as the top contenders.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin had recommended going with ETS instead of an updated version of the Stanford 9 that will debut in 2003.

``ETS clearly demonstrated that they are up to the challenge of meeting the long-term needs of California's standardized testing program,'' Eastin said in a statement Wednesday.

Nine states use the California Achievement Test in their testing programs while 25 states use the Stanford 9. Both are multiple-choice exams and cover main academic subjects.

Despite the move toward new ways to compare students around the nation, the state's ultimate plan is to have the California Standards Tests be the focus of its annual assessment program, state officials said.