BRIAN SANDOVAL

STATE OF NEVADA

Governor

SOUTHERN NEVADA OFFICE
9890 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite 221
Las Vegas, Nevada 89183
(702) 486-6458
Fax: (702)486-6450
http://teachers.nv.gov

DALE A.R. ERQUIAGA
Superintendent of Public Instruction

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

700 E. Fifth Street
Carson City, Nevada 89701-5096
(775) 687 - 9200 · Fax: (775) 687 – 9101
http://www.doe.nv.gov

April 21, 2015

Measured Progress, Inc.
100 Education Way
Dover, NH 03820
Attn: Lisa Ehrlich, Senior Vice President
Re: Notification of Your Breach in Performance of the CONTRACT FOR SERVICES OF
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR dated May 11, 2010 for failure to provide functioning testing
products and services
Dear Ms. Ehrlich:
As you know, Measured Progress, Inc. (“MP”) has been under contract with the Nevada Department
of Education for several years to provide testing services for Nevada students. In July, 2014, the
existing contract was amended for a fifth time. In this amendment, the Nevada Department of
Education (“NDE”) contracted with MP for a variety of services related to the delivery of summative
assessments for grades 3-8 commonly known as criterion referenced tests (“CRTs”). MP agreed to
provide NDE with a number of products and services in relation to its management and execution of
an effective technology rollout of the Smarter Balanced online assessment system. As Smarter
Balanced (“SB”) was providing content to MP to allow SB to meet its contractual obligations, NDE
took extra precautions to make sure that MP’s requirements were delivered to and communicated to
SB. In order to ensure that MP would receive any and all required information from SB in a timely
manner, NDE requested a schedule of deliverables that MP would require from SB. SB agreed to
meet these timelines and provide MP with the requested deliverables.
In March, 2015, the Executive Director of SB recommended that Nevada delay its testing dates by
two weeks to allow sufficient time to conduct needed quality assurance testing and to improve the
functionality of the test delivery software. Despite the delay in testing dates, MP has been wholly
unable to perform its obligations under the contract. Since testing began, Nevada students have
experienced persistent and widespread inability to logon to or complete the CRTs. The technology
rollout of the SB online assessment system that MP contracted to execute and manage has not been
effective. Significant numbers of Nevada students have been prevented from and are still unable to
take the CRTs due to these technological failures.
This letter shall constitute official notice of MP’s breach of the contract and its inability to execute
an effective technology rollout and failure to deliver a workable assessment package that would
allow Nevada Students to complete the evaluations. This letter shall also commence MP’s
opportunity to cure the breach and resolve the systemic testing difficulties that have prevented

 Measure Progress, Inc.
April 21, 2015
Page 2

significant numbers of Nevada students from taking the CRTs. In addition, this letter shall serve as
notice that MP’s breach has caused NDE damages in an as-of-yet undetermined, but increasing
amount, and NDE reserves the right to pursue all legal remedies to be made whole. Should MP be
unable to cure the material default within the 15 day time period prescribed in section 10(d) of the
MP/NDE contract and provide a fully functioning CRT assessment package that would allow
Nevada Students to take the computer adaptive CRT, NDE may exercise its right to terminate the
contract.
Respectfully yours,

DALE A.R. ERQUIAGA
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Department of Education, State of Nevada