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Following the state’s yanking of a controversial question about pineapples, two errors were found on math tests.
Just days after scrapping a puzzling question about a pineapple on state reading exams, New York education officials have admitted to mistakes on the math test, too.
Both the fourth and eighth grade tests, set to begin Wednesday, contain errors, state education officials acknowledged in an email to principals Monday night.
On the eighth grade test, one question had no correct answer, and schools are instructed to alert students.
And on the fourth grade exam, one question has two correct answers. But in this case, schools are directed to tell students about the problem only if they ask questions about the item.
Elizabeth Phillips, principal of Brooklyn Public School 321, called it completely unfair not to warn fourth-graders.
That means that in some rooms, where a child asks, the children will be at an advantage as they will know that they don't have to keep deliberating, while in other classrooms, where students don't ask, some are likely to waste a lot of time on this question, she said.
State Education spokesman Tom Dunn said the mistake was a typo.
Children will not be penalized, said Dunn. Weve caught a typo. Rather than alarm the kids or otherwise compromise the operational test, we simply wont count the question.
Last week, state Education Commissioner John King pulled questions about a talking pineapple from the eighth grade exam, acknowledging two questions on the passage were ambiguous.
The controversial story -- a take-off on Aesops fable The Tortoise and the Hare -- spawned a Facebook fan page and sparked criticism of the high-stakes test.
rmonahan@nydailynews.com
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