The State of Tennessee again reported widespread problems with students attempting to take online standardized test administered by Questar, the state's online testing vendor. Yesterday's problems were blamed on a "fiber cable cut" that disrupted internet access. Earlier disruptions were blamed on a "deliberate attack."
It appears Tennessee isn't the only state experiencing mysterious "glitches" with the service...
April 20: 'Unusual activity' delayed testing in South Dakota
Four South Dakota school districts, including Sioux Falls, faced testing delays Tuesday after "unusual activity" in the online assessment system, state officials said. .. The tests were administered through Questar Assessment, Inc., which has provided South Dakota's science assessments since 2014.
April 17: Technical Problem Briefly Interrupts Mississippi State Tests
The Mississippi Department of Education says some schools had problems connecting with the test for about an hour Tuesday morning. The state says the problems eased and online testing resumed by about 10 a.m. .. The department says it has contacted Questar Assessment, part of New Jersey-based Educational Testing Service, and awaits information about the outage's cause and what Questar is doing to prevent future problems.
April 13: Cyber attack to blame for more ELA testing problems (New York)
A cyber attack is to blame for additional issues with electronic English Language Arts testing that specifically impacted students in Central New York on Thursday. Districts statewide experienced delays with ELA assessments on Wednesday due to problems with Questar, the vendor administering the exams.
April 12: Computer problems interfere with New York student testing
An unknown number of students taking the statewide English assessment by computer encountered delays when a security feature in the system “inadvertently activated” and prevented them from logging in, New York education officials said on Thursday. The problem on Wednesday originated with test vendor Questar Assessment Inc., which eventually fixed the issue, Education Department spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said.
May 20, 2017: Testing glitch frustrates students, administrators (Missouri)
The problem originated in a data center operated by Questar, a company hired by the state to administer the end-of-course test. At 8 a.m. on April 25, Questar's computers began to show signs of strain, and tests being taken around the state slowed down. "They were overwhelmed, basically," said Blaine Henningsen, assistant commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
April 28, 2016: Public-school Tests Glitch Across State (Mississippi)
Twelve thousand Mississippi students spent nearly 20 minutes unable to take their Mississippi Assessment Program tests yesterday morning. Minneapolis, Minns-based Questar Assessment Inc., the assessment vendor responsible for distributing Mississippi's state tests, reported a glitch in its program yesterday. With Questar, students take their end-of-the-year assessments online.
Mississippi Dept. of Education Announces Schools Affected by Questar Assessment Breach
Questar’s preliminary analysis found that an unauthorized user viewed student assessment records between December 31, 2017 and January 1, 2018, from Tupelo Middle School, Tupelo High School and Jefferson Junior High School. The unauthorized viewer gained access to student names, Mississippi student identification numbers, grade levels, teacher names and test results. One student record viewed contained demographic data.
Data breach at testing vendor Questar exposes 52 NY students
A data breach at testing vendor Questar Assessment exposed personal information of about 52 students in five New York schools, state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said Thursday.
Aug. 31, 2017: Results from 2 Missouri high school tests tossed
Missouri education officials say results from two statewide tests can’t be used to gauge how well school districts are educating high school students. .. Vandeven says the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is holding the test developer Questar accountable.
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It would appear online
It would appear online standardized testing is not ready for prime time.