Arlington ISD Students Stressed After STAAR Test Glitch
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Some students taking the STAAR tests Tuesday didn't know what to think when all of a sudden their answers disappeared. It happened across the state. Now technicians are trying to see if the answers are gone forever.
Arlington ISD said they had about 15 campuses affected by the glitch, but that still amounted to fewer than 100 students. The Texas Education Agency said some students who weren't able to finish Tuesday can resume testing Thursday, but some parents worry the problem could happen again.
For Shawndalasa Shaw's fifth grader, the stress of STAAR testing was intense, so news that a computer glitch erased some students' online responses came as a shock.
"It does cause a concern 'cause if anything happens, you know all the children's information is lost and everything's a question at this point," Shaw said.
Tammy Simpson said her fourth grader was set to take the online portion of the test, and now she worries about whether the system is stable.
"So we've been doing this for months getting ready for it, and just to think that they've lost... That she might have to retake it," Simpson said.
The problem began when some students reported that previously recorded answers were not showing up after they logged off of the online test, then logged on again. ETS, the company that administers the test said they will restore all the student responses that could be recovered. But the head of the Texas Education Agency called the technical problems unacceptable.
"Such issues undermine the hard work of our teachers and students. Kids in the classroom should never suffer from mistakes made by adults," Commissioner of Education Mike Morath wrote in a statement.
A spokesperson for the TEA said they believe the technical problem was isolated to Tuesday's testing. The agency also said school districts are not required to have affected students finish the test and will have the option to determine on an individual student basis whether continuing testing is in the best interest of the student.
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