Given the emphasis that U.S. schools place on testing at all levels, derailments are not uncommon, at the federal, state, and, as was announced this week, at the local level, with an admissions exam to a prestigious public school.
The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discovered printing errors on the testing booklets given to students hoping to gain entry to the school. About 3,000 students had taken the 8th grade test last weekend. The test is developed by Pearson, which offered its regrets for the foul-up but blamed a third-party contractor, according to the Washington Post. A re-test has been tentatively scheduled for Jan. 23. The test is just one of several criteria on which applicants to Thomas Jefferson High are judged, according to the Post, which reports that all the students who took the test on day in question are likely to have to retake it.