Bugs again bedevil online testing in Florida schools
It seems neither Florida’s Department of Education nor its testing provider learned its lesson after standardized exams were thrown into chaos last month by technical glitches.
Once again, testing ground to a halt in South Florida schools Monday after students were unable to access the tests that may decide their educational future.
Once again, Florida education officials blamed the problems on last-minute changes to testing systems by contractor, American Institutes for Research.
The problems have only fueled arguments over whether the Florida Standards Assessments are fair to students, teachers and schools.
“I’m so frustrated as a parent,” Miami-Dade PTA president Joe Gebara wrote in Twitter message to the Miami Herald. “The state doesn’t seem to be listening. I have teachers telling me their kids sat for two hours doing nothing in front of a computer.”
Testing was canceled in some of the state’s largest counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
In a statement, the company took “full responsibility” for the glitches and apologized.
“The problem stemmed from human error, and AIR is reviewing its procedures in order to prevent future events of this kind,” the statement read.
Education Commissioner Pam Stewart said in a statement that AIR’s update was unapproved and unnecessary.
“The company’s failure to follow protocol is absolutely unacceptable and the Department will hold AIR accountable for the disruption they have caused to our state’s students, teachers and school staff,” she said.
Miami-Dade’s Chief Academic Officer, Marie Izquierdo, shot back: “Who holds the state accountable? And more importantly, who’s thinking about the children?”
Others wondered whether the state even has protocol in place to prevent these sorts of issues.
When it comes to big, complicated servers, companies typically have something called a “change management system” in place. Such systems track changes and test to make sure the updates have worked, Izquierdo explained.
“In other words, AIR can run an update and not have an approval or even the knowledge of the state, and that’s very concerning,” she said.
Without such a system, Gisela Feild — Miami-Dade's administrative director of assessment, research and data analysis — said testing can be thrown into chaos without warning.
“What kind of assurances do we have?” she questioned.
AIR and the education department did not respond to questions about whether a change management system is in place.
Miami-Dade leaders had warned that a second round of testing, which began in April, could also crash. Students are now taking math tests online, which require far more computer-power than the March exams. For the math portion, students face interactive questions, with features like drag-and-drop and number lines.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article19032267.html
