Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning has notified the state education commissioner that most district schools are not ready to administer the state’s online tests.
Browning isn’t talking about the district’s students. He’s concerned about the readiness of the district’s technology to deliver the online test.
He voiced those concerns in a Feb. 18 letter to Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.
“After performing a load test last week and assessing our overall readiness, the district is not comfortable in certifying that we can administer FSA (Florida Standards Assessment) without significant technological and logistical problems,” Browning wrote.
The district conducted a test on Feb. 2, between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., of 8,622 student machines at the same time.
During the load test, only eight of the schools tested — representing 11 percent of those tested — reported no problems. Fifty-three schools, representing 73 percent of those tested, reported some issues and 12 schools, 16 percent, could not test because of significant issues. Ten schools that were tested did not report their findings.
Browning informed Stewart, “…if we were required to test today, a majority of our schools would experience a variety of delays and issues.”
Along with the letter, Browning attached a spreadsheet indicating a variety of technological issues encountered during the load test. Such problems included slow question load time, load timeout errors, launch failures, premature boots, error messages and a host of other technical problems.
Browning’s letter also notes that Pasco is the largest Apple device user in the state and because of that, technical difficulties become even more complicated because there are no other comparable districts to help the district with its setup, design and troubleshooting.
“I believe there are too many obstacles hindering our readiness to effectively administer the FSA, but I can assure you that our district will participate,” Browning wrote. “My signature does not certify that we are ready, but instead certifies that we will be participating in the examination.”
While Browning voices concerns about Pasco’s readiness to administer the state’s online test, all sorts of questions are being raised over Florida’s testing requirements and the amount of time teachers and students devote to them.
Gov. Rick Scott has already issued an executive order to eliminate the 11th grade standardized test in English.
Other proposals for change are expected during this year’s legislative session, scheduled to begin on March 3.
Published February 25, 2015
