Districts Upgrade Tech Ahead of Common-Core Testing

Hoping to avoid the widespread technical failures that caused online testing breakdowns in a number of states last spring, education officials are communicating regularly with testing providers and planning dress rehearsals far ahead of the next rounds of online tests in 2013-14.

"Districts need to have a punch list and make sure they have everything they need to be ready,” said Keith R. Krueger, the CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, a professional association for school district technology leaders. Though more breakdowns likely are inevitable given online testing's relatively new place in schools, the ability to protect the validity, integrity, and security of the process is increasingly crucial as districts in 46 states -- those that have adopted the Common Core State Standards -- gear up for mandatory online assessments starting in 2014-15. In the meantime, states that dealt with disruptions in online testing are going through checklists: Do districts have enough bandwidth? A strong infrastructure? Are testing providers doing all they can to prevent a repeat performance? Bandwidth is a critical concern for many districts. In a fall 2013 national survey of school district leaders conducted by COSN and Market Data Retrieval, 99 percent of respondents indicated a need for more Internet bandwidth and connectivity in the next 36 months.