Montana schools have been given the option by the Office of Public Instruction to continue or discontinue state standardized testing.

This decision comes after testing was stalled this week by technical problems with the delivery system of the new computerized assessment.

Office of Public Instruction Deputy Superintendent Dennis Parman said Thursday he has heard from a third of Montana schools with 80 percent reporting they would continue testing all students, 10 percent saying they were going to test some students and about 10 percent deciding to discontinue testing or not start testing.

Students who had to stop in the middle of tests because of the computer problem can be assured their progress isn’t lost, Parman said.

“The test auto-saves answers every 45 seconds. Worst-case scenario is that the last question the student answered may not be saved, but they can go back and answer it,” Parman said.

Schools across Montana, North Dakota and Nevada reported problems such as trouble logging in, computers freezing up and error messages that interrupted testing. 

These states contracted with Measured Progress, a New-Hampshire-based contractor, to administer the new Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium test. 

Overloaded servers have been singled out as the source of the problem. Parman said that the server problem may be traced to inefficient coding and didn’t account for the number of simultaneous test-takers.

“There were 48,000 concurrent users. Montana had 11,000,” Parman said. “That was really unexpected for us. Last year when we looked at the number of field test log-ins we never saw a number over 3,500 [in Montana].” 

The computerized testing has had a rocky start. 

The testing window that began March 30 had previously been delayed twice despite a March 2014 field test that was supposed to uncover any challenges. Many schools didn’t start testing the week of March 30, which was spring break for many Flathead Valley schools.

“Some hadn’t planned to start until today,” Parman said.

Whitefish School District Curriculum Director Jill Rocksund said testing in Whitefish ground to a halt Tuesday.

“Tuesday was not a good day,” Rocksund said.

After Tuesday’s technical glitches, Office of Public Instruction Superintendent Denise Juneau advised Montana schools not to test students Wednesday while the state waits for a response from Measured Progress that the system is fully operational.

Tuesday’s problems led Whitefish to cancel testing eighth-graders this week. Rocksund said they may start testing again Monday with seventh grade with fifth, sixth and eighth grades in the weeks following. Third, fourth and 11th grades were not affected because their testing had already been planned in mid-May.

At Kalispell Public Schools, Tuesday’s testing interruptions were temporary. Students weren’t able to log on in the morning but could do so by the afternoon. The delays have eaten into some students’ schedules who had to complete testing at different times, but it is important the district continue on, according to Kalispell Assistant Superintendent Dan Zorn.

Baseline data is what’s driving many schools to continue testing, even if it’s just one grade level.

“We are assured students who complete the test that results will be given to the schools and parents,” Parman said.

Zorn said getting baseline data on the new test was not something the district wants to push off another year.

“It’s very important for us that we get a baseline on our student performance so we can use that to make some determinations how we are doing and where do we need to improve,” Zorn said. “We’ve worked very hard over the last four years making the transitions [to the Montana Common Core Standard] and increasing our expectations.”

Roughly 75,000 Montana students are anticipated to take the assessment if all schools continue testing.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.