Common Core testing halted at schools in Nevada, 2 other states

Nevada education officials said Wednesday they planned to hold accountable the company administering statewide Common Core computerized testing for students in grades three to five after the system failed this week.

Smarter Balanced Assessments, which is administered by the company Measured Progress, was halted for the second day on Wednesday throughout Nevada, Montana and North Dakota because the company could not handle the number of students taking the test.

Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga said he would hold Measured Progress accountable for the testing failure.

“I am extremely disappointed in our test vendor’s inability to deliver as promised and we are examining all avenues to hold the company accountable,” Erquiaga said in a statement. “Our districts and schools were eager to demonstrate our readiness to move to computer-based assessments and this is an unacceptable setback.”

The New Hampshire-based company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Measured Progress was having capacity problems with its servers — devices that manage a computer network’s resources. On Tuesday, state Deputy Superintendent for Student Achievement Steve Canavero informed county superintendents of the test interruption.

“Early this morning Measured Progress notified the Department (of Education) and certain school districts that its capacity to deliver the Smarter Balanced assessment could not meet the demand due to a spike in student participation,” Canavero said. “Measured Progress has halted all testing in order to expand their capacity to meet the demands placed on the system.”

The problem only affected students who were attempting to start new tests, not those students who had begun the assessment prior to the server capacity issues, Canavero said.

State officials are expected to decide later today whether to resume testing as soon as it becomes available or wait.

The halted English and math tests were being administered to third through eighth graders.

Common Core testing began March 30 in Nevada, with about 1,200 students completing their tests before Measured Progress halted testing.

Limiting testing for about 3,000 students will resume throughout the state except in its most populous counties, Clark and Washoe.

However, state officials said Clark County can resume testing for students whose tests were in progress when the shutdown happened.

The education department hopes to have statewide testing available by Monday, officials said. They expect to know by Friday if Measured Progress can meet that deadline.

About 30,000 students had completed the testing prior to the server issues earlier this week.

Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe