We wish Tennessee’s seeming ongoing problem with online standardized testing and scoring for public school students was an isolated problem. If that were the case, the problem might be more readily identified and eliminated.
Unfortunately, states across the country have suffered technical glitches in attempting to get the tests that measure students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills properly administered and returned.
Malfunctions disrupted computerized testing in more than 30 states since 2013, according to media reports compiled by FairTest – including more than a dozen states in 2015, a Washington Post report noted in the midst of the 2016 testing season.
That doesn’t excuse what happened in Tennessee, where it was revealed late last week that some 9,400 tests (out of about 600,000) were scored incorrectly. Yes, that’s only about 1.6 percent of tests, but about 1,700 tests (.28 of all tests taken) affected students’ proficiency scores and 230 teachers statewide saw changes in their Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System scores, a measure by which the state evaluates teacher performance.
So, we’re only talking the potential future of students and teachers – a serious issue.