NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Tennessee Department of Education failed to provide adequate oversight while rolling out its problem-plagued student assessment test in the spring that resulted in widespread delays and outrage among lawmakers, according to an audit released Wednesday.
The auditors said they had “concerns that the department has proceeded with large-scale procurements involving millions of dollars under intense time constraints,” and added that while the state can’t anticipate all potential pitfalls, it should recognize the pressure to implement the test may have negatively impacted students.
The review comes after teachers and students experienced repeated failures of the April 16 assessment, causing some districts to cancel testing. By Day Two, the persistent internet troubles surrounding the test caused the vendor to warn a cyberattack was behind the problem.
However, a review of the April incident later found that a change in text-to-speech configuration helped spark other problems experienced during the TNReady spring online testing.
The report states department staff were alerted in November 2017 that Questar – the vendor who administers the online test – alerted the state of its change in text-to-speech, but that change was not passed on to department leadership.