A Texas company that scored state assessment tests returned incorrect results for 355 students and will be fined $80,000, education officials said.

Scores in 51 districts statewide were adjusted to correct the errors, which testing contractor Harcourt Assessment Inc. blamed on a processing mistake, said state Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg on Friday.

"The seriousness of this matter is unquestioned," she wrote to the San Antonio-based company. "Your company's failure to accurately report student scores has undermined its credibility and has negatively impacted Connecticut students."

The errors will not affect progress reports for the federal No Child Left Behind law, officials said.

The fine is the maximum allowed under the state's contract with Harcourt, which will be replaced in 2007 by Measurement Inc., a North Carolina company. That decision had been made before the errors were discovered.

Hawaii education officials chose to seek a new test development company last year after several recent testing mix-ups involving Harcourt Assessment.

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