The Kansas State Board of Education voted today (TUE) not to release scores from a new standardized state math and reading test. The computerized exam for public school students was plagued by glitches and cyberattacks. Scott Smith, with the Kansas State Department of Education, says education officials knew that the new format would present some challenges, but the disruptions brought things to a new level.
Testing officials are worried that the problems could mean the results aren't valid. The state is still planning to release data showing some broad trends about students' strength and weaknesses. The federal government generally requires the release of testing data, but Kansas will be asking for an exception to the policy this year.
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The Kansas State Board of Education has voted not to release scores from a new standardized test. The computerized math and reading test for public school students was plagued with problems. As KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports, glitches and cyberattacks disrupted testing for many students, so the results may not be valid.
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The test was developed by the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas, known as CETE. Board member John Bacon, from Olathe, says taxpayers need to know they’re getting their money’s worth.
“It’s too expensive, we just cannot be funding a research project for CETE. You need to produce what you said that you would in the contract, what we’re paying you for,” says Bacon.
Marianne Perie, with CETE, says outside cyberattacks that disrupted testing were a huge issue, but she also says there were problems on their end.
“We had mistakes that were totally on us. We take responsibility for them. We are making the improvements and we intend to be read to go next spring, hopefully with no issues,” says Perie.
There will still be some broad trends released about Kansas students. The federal government generally requires the release of testing data, but Kansas will be asking for an exception to the policy this year.