MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This school year, students across Tennessee will take a new test called TNReady, replacing parts of the TCAP that have been around for decades.
The state said third through 11 graders will take TNReady for English and Math.
Students across the state logged on recently to try out the test’s computer system and discovered some hiccups.
The State Department of Education looked to students last week to test out “MIST,” which is the computer system students will use for the exam.
“On ‘Break MIST Day,’ that special day they had everyone log in statewide, I’ve gotten the same impression that there have been issues across the state, and we had issues too,” said Shelby County Schools Director of Planning and Accountability William White.
He said that meant some computers froze up on the day the state asked students to log on and try the system out.
Students across the state have used MIST in the past for portions of the TCAP, but this is the first school year the entire exam will be on the computer.
Closer to middle Tennessee, Williamson County Schools’ Superintendent tweeted, “Time for @tnedu to learn from this and prepare for the real deal,” referring to the same kinds of glitches.
The Department of Education explained that on the state’s big day to try the system, 110,000 users logged on.
It does not expect ever having that many people on the system at the same time for the actual exam.
The state said in a statement, “This dry run last week yielded data that will help us improve the system before our students log on to take the test. While the system never crashed, there are reports that the site moved slowly, and we are already working to increase its speed.”
SCS said 30,000 students have taken a practice TNReady test.
The district is sending surveys to schools to learn more about any issues in order to get ready.
