Mondays technical malfunctions for the Florida Standards Assessment added fuel to an already hot fire of harsh criticisms of the states new standardized test aligned with the Common Core State Standards and raised questions over whether the states new assessment test could be invalidated entirely as a result of this weeks technical failures.
On Monday, middle school and high school students sat down to take the FSA test, but to no avail -- they were unable to log on to the mathematics and language arts test.
The department blamed the issues on server problems with the tests vendor, American Institutes for Research, which is responsible for the FSA. AIR apparently made unapproved technical changes to the test over the weekend which caused the server to glitch out.
Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart has generally defended AIR through the implementation of the states new test, but she sang a different tune after the second wave of issues hit Florida schools this week.
"This is unacceptable on the part of AIR, she said. We will hold AIR accountable for the disruption they have caused this state."
Stewart vowed the department would be closely monitoring the testing administration and would determine a course of action to hold AIR accountable for the disruptions students experienced after testing has been completed.
But the double-whammy of technical failures raises another important question for Florida students: In the midst of technical disruptions, just how valid are test results?
According to the FLDOE Spring 2015 FSA Computer-Based Test Administration Manual, if students are disrupted during testing due to a circumstance out of their control, test invalidation may be considered if a student feels his or her performance was significantly affected by the disruption.
Just how many students may decide to invalidate their test results has yet to be determined, but problems with the FSA roll-out which locked students out of the test and prohibited them from finishing caused lots of problems for students statewide.
Parents have expressed concerns over the test, saying it threw their children for a loop when they were unexpectedly unable to take the test.
The computer problems have created a lot of chaos in their school day and [are] a perfect reason for invalidation, said Beth Overholt, who has three school-aged children. Overholt said her children opted out of standardized testing but said her daughters were held in their classrooms for hours waiting for their fellow students to complete their tests.
She missed three classes two days in a row, Overholt said. I want her in front of a teacher learning something.
Students taking the test tweeted their anxieties over the test, many of whom didnt seem to be looking forward to completing it.
The state doesn't know what it's doing with this FSA test, read one tweet.
Yeah I really don't feel like doing that whole FSA test thing this week, read another.
Sunshine State News asked the FDOE whether it would be possible for students to invalidate their test results due to the disruption.
Public Information Officer Claudia Claussen told SSN invalidation was definitely possible for the first round of testing.
It sounds like if they started [taking] the test, thats one thing, she said. I could definitely see [invalidation] for the first test.
Claussen then told SSN via email it would be up to schools and districts to decide how to proceed.
"School and district staff are best able to determine when invalidation is appropriate," she wrote. "As always, this decision will be left to their discretion."
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen by email atallison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
