BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — For the second day in a row, several school districts across New York State encountered technical difficulties as students attempted to log in for their state assessments.
The issues appeared to stem from a computer-based testing program that students were required to use statewide. The glitches have prompted several districts to reschedule their English Language Arts testing for students in grades three through eight.
I visited the Niagara Falls City School District to find out how they're handling the ongoing situation.
Principal Jerry Orfano reported that the problems began on Tuesday and persisted into Wednesday, causing delays in the testing process.
"It was very slow getting on... but once the kids were able to get on, we were able to start testing," Orfano said.
However, he stated that students faced delays of 10 to 20 minutes before they could begin their assessments.
"Our teachers are so cooperative... the kids are very cooperative, so we just deal with it," Orfano added. "I'm happy everybody was able to get on and be able to test."
Niagara Falls City School Superintendent Mark Laurrie expressed his disappointment at the situation.
"It has been a very frustrating start," he said. "I think there are a lot of reasons for it, but I'm really disappointed."
This year marked the first time all districts were mandated to conduct the assessments using computer-based methods.
Laurrie explained that the issues stemmed from what is known as "contention," where the simultaneous log-in attempts from hundreds of districts made it difficult for all students to access the system.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has placed the blame squarely on its testing vendor, NWEA, calling the situation "unacceptable" and affirming that the vendor is "solely responsible for the issues." In response, NWEA stated that they have identified and "permanently resolved" the problem.
NYSED released the following statement:
Statement from New York State Education Department
Spokesperson JP O’Hare
“For the second consecutive day, a number of schools across the state experienced a slowdown with the Grades 3-8 Computer-Based Testing System. NYSED apologizes to schools, students, and families and, like those who were impacted, finds this situation unacceptable. Make no mistake: the state’s testing vendor, NWEA, is solely responsible for the issues that have affected testing this year. We have been in contact with NWEA leadership to demand answers for why this situation has occurred and solutions to ensure that students will not be impacted any further during the spring 2025 testing window. This situation is unacceptable, and NYSED will be holding NWEA responsible for not meeting expectations and contractual obligations.
NWEA has provided assurances that a permanent solution has been put in place to avoid any further slowdowns, but it is understandable if schools wish to wait to ensure that there are no more issues before recommencing testing. For those schools whose students were able to log in successfully and take the tests, their responses are being recorded, and their sessions are being submitted successfully. Schools that encountered issues with logging in to the system may either pause testing today or complete tests today now that the system has stabilized.
NYSED understands that the loss of two testing days impacts a school’s testing plans and may require flexibility to ensure there is sufficient time to complete the Grades 3-8 Tests. To offer additional time, the computer-based testing window will be extended by one week to May 23. The tests will remain on the computer-based platform, and NYSED will ensure that NWEA offers ample support to schools that may require it.
We continue to monitor the situation and thank our school communities for their patience.”
NWEA released the following statement:
"NWEA has identified and resolved the technical issue impacting New York state assessments, which caused delayed logins and system response times. The issue was first reported on Tuesday morning and NWEA’s technology team responded with an immediate fix. This morning, we saw recurrences and implemented additional infrastructure, which has permanently resolved the issue. Our monitoring shows no errors and a large volume of students using the system normally. We take disruptions to testing very seriously and apologize to the students and teachers impacted. We are coordinating with the New York State Department of Education to provide details on the cause and steps we are taking to ensure this does not happen moving forward."
According to Superintendent Laurrie, makeup testing for affected students will occur after spring break, which begins next week.
"It's really quite frustrating on a lot of levels," Laurrie said. "We're going to stop – we're not going to frustrate kids and teachers, and the community anymore. We'll stop and reboot when we return after the break."
As a result of the technical difficulties, districts such as Buffalo, Orchard Park, and Niagara Falls have had to reschedule testing for any student who could not complete their assessments.
