State Education Commissioner Pam Stewart says nearly a quarter of students slated to take the state’s new online writing exam have completed it. Stewart says she’s confident the test will be done on time.
The state’s new Florida Standards Assessment has gotten off to a rocky start. The new, online writing portion of the exam has been plagued by log in problems in many school districts. Wednesday, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart told a Senate Education panel most of the problems have been resolved.
“We are above the expected average daily participation in order to complete the testing during this testing window," she says.
About 65,000 students took the exam Monday and Stewart says another 80,000 were able to take the exam Tuesday.
Democratic Senator Jeremy Ring of Margate acknowledges new technology isn’t without problems.
“I’ve never seen before a project of this size and scope that doesn’t go off without hiccups. It just doesn’t happen," Ring said, but wanted to know what the department was doing to make sure it has people in place to address technology problems when they arise.
Stewart says DOE has its own tech team, largely made up of private contractors who work in its building.
He and others want assurances the Department has its own team in place to address tech problems as they arise. Stewart says the department does. DOE will allow an additional two weeks to allow for make-ups. Some school districts, like Leon County, say they won’t start administering the online portion of the exam until they’re certain the issues are fixed.
