Software glitch prevents some students from taking STAAR tests | www.statesman.com

5:20 p.m. update: Several school districts in Central Texas reported problems with online STAAR testing Tuesday, but school officials said relatively few students were affected and most were able to complete the tests on time.

However, locally it seems that most students were able to finish their testing Tuesday.

Round Rock school district spokesman Corey Ryan said problems with Pearson Education online software created a 35-minute delay to the start of STAAR testing for special education and English language learners. The delay prevented a very small number of students from finishing tests Tuesday, Ryan said.

Students at the Austin school district were also affected Tuesday by software problems in STAAR testing, but all students were able to complete their tests, a district spokesman said.

District spokesman Jacob Barrett described the situation Tuesday morning with Pearson Education’s online software as more of a “frustration on the administrative side,” than a student issue.

All students at the Pflugerville school district completed tests with minimal disruption, a district official said.

Earlier: Several Texas school districts were faced with numerous problems in online STAAR testing Tuesday that prevented some students from taking the required tests.

The scope of the problem was not fully known late Tuesday, but an official with the Texas Education Agency said they think most of the problems with the Pearson Education online software used for online STAAR tests were resolved.

Some students were unable to log in or lost a connection to the testing software Tuesday morning, preventing them from taking tests.

TEA officials said any student who could not take their STAAR tests on Tuesday should resume them Wednesday. If the student was set to take another test on Wednesday, that test will be administered later this week, according to a statement from Lisa Cottle, the TEA’s director of test administration.

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