Pearson Education is running the ISTEP exam that begins in February under a $33 million, two-year contract. A Pearson spokesman said the practice test is designed to stress the system so problems can be corrected.

Rosa Ramos Ochoa, a senior at Ben Davis University High School, was sure she had earned a scholarship under Indiana's 21st Century Scholars program, which can provide students with up to four years of college tuition if they meet certain goals, because she finally had a Social Security number. But it didn't matter, she told U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan during his visit to Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis.