On the second day of TNReady testing, state education officials made two major announcements Tuesday – the company handling Tennessee’s statewide testing experienced a “deliberate” online attack and as a result the testing timeline will be extended to mitigate potential interruptions.
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen sent multiple updates to directors of school systems across the state Tuesday, first acknowledging ongoing issues with the TNReady online platform and identifying the need to pause testing.
Candice McQueen“It appears Questar’s data center may have experienced a deliberate attack [Tuesday] morning based on the way traffic is presenting itself,” McQueen said in one of the Tuesday morning emails. She added that the testing vendor was working to reset the system. “However, the attacker may take these same steps again, and Questar is actively working on further reinforcements, including notifying authorities.”
Student data was not compromised, McQueen said, but Tuesday’s testing problems – students were unable to log in and if they were logged in, were unable to submit answers – come after a day of issues when the testing period began Monday.
While some Tennessee Democrats called for McQueen’s resignation, Elizabeth Fiveash, assistant commissioner for the state Department of Education, addressed the state’s GOP caucus, telling legislators that the testing problems were “anomalies.”