Schools Suspend FCAT Because Of Computer Problems
willem velthoven
Some Florida school districts have suspended FCAT testing after having problems connecting to the online exam.
UPDATE: Education Commissioner Pam Stewart has sent a letter to Pearson saying she expects “a resolution and explanation for this immediately.”
“This failure is inexcusable,” Stewart wrote. “Florida’s students and teachers work too hard on learning to be distracted by these needless and avoidable technological issues.”
Read Stewart’s letter below.
Original post:
Schools are suspending today’s FCAT testing because some school districts are having computer issues.
The Florida Department of Education says the problem is with testing firm Pearson. The problem is not statewide, they said, but they’ve advised districts having issues to suspend testing.
The Tampa Bay Times reports Pasco County schools have stopped testing. Pasco County schools’ testing director said Leon, Seminole and Brevard schools are reporting similar issues.
Here’s the note the department sent to school districts this morning:
Good morning,
As some of you already know, Pearson is experiencing difficulty with a hosting provider this morning, which is causing issues with testing (both TestNav and TestHear) and accessing the PearsonAccess website for test management. The issue does not seem to be statewide, but several districts have reported issues.
If your district is experiencing difficulty with live testing, please suspend testing and wait to hear from our office. We do not currently have an estimated timeline from Pearson for when this issue will be resolved, but we will be in touch with updates/resolutions throughout the day. If your district is not experiencing issues, you may continue testing as scheduled as your district is likely not routing through the affected server.
Some of you have inquired about schedule extensions due to this issue. Once the problem is resolved, if you have schools that will need more time to complete testing beyond your district’s schedule, please let us know (in writing) and we will work with you to ensure that all students in your district have sufficient opportunity to test.
Thank you for your patience.
As expected, students are enjoying the reprieve:
Realizing FCAT is down state wide pic.twitter.com/gRefGStb8R
— Lucía ❁ (@luciiaaz) April 22, 2014
