State testing began this week but many students have been unable to complete their online tests. Problems began Monday when the Tennessee Department of Education experienced some difficulties across the state with online TNReady grades 5-11 testing. Tuesday afternoon, Williamson County Schools (WCS) announced that all online testing has been postponed and only third and fourth grade students taking the paper test will continue testing
“We will monitor the performance of the State’s testing platform throughout the day tomorrow [Wednesday], and a decision regarding online testing will be made tomorrow [Wednesday] afternoon. We hope to resume online testing on Thursday. Your principal will share your school’s testing schedule,” wrote WCS Communications Director Carol Birdsong in an e-mail.
On Tuesday morning, the Tennessee Department of Education posted the following on Facebook:
“It appears Questar’s data center may have experienced a deliberate attack this morning based on traffic patterns. They are resetting the system, and we have shared more info on next steps with directors of schools. We will share an update when we know more.”
Later Tuesday, the Department of Education wrote “Questar continues to take steps to prevent a repeat attack. We will be diligently monitoring. There is absolutely no evidence that student data or information has been compromised. We believe the testing program performed as designed to mask and protect student information. The software is designed to save students’ work, so if their testing session was disrupted, they can resume and submit their answers now. We know this has presented challenges to scheduling and morale. We again apologize to our educators and students. We will be in touch with our districts later today with further info about the testing window.”
