Ed. chief: TNReady test may have been hacked

NASHVILLE – High school testing was halted Tuesday in many districts across Tennessee after revelations of a possible “deliberate attack” on computer systems, the latest in a series of problems surrounding the TNReady assessment in recent years.

The company contracted to handle the online portion of the test reported the irregularities Tuesday morning, Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said in an email Tuesday morning to school directors.

“To our knowledge, no student data has been compromised,” McQueen said.

The disruption came as districts around the state grappled with unrelated problems plaguing the online test for the second day. It also prompted numerous school districts to cancel or halt testing on Tuesday, including Hamilton, Knox and Williamson county schools.

At the same time, House lawmakers Tuesday demanded immediate action.

House representatives passed two amendments to HB1109 in an attempt to urgently change a multi-million dollar testing system tormented by flaws over the last several years. The bill will be heard Wednesday in the House Finance, Ways and Means committee. Democrats called for McQueen to resign.

“We can’t keep doing this,” said Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, regarding problems with TNReady.

“We’ve got to protect our students, out teachers and our school districts. Why in the world are we putting this pressure on them to use this test as an evaluation for our teachers, our school districts, our students? It’s been flawed for four years now.”

McQueen said in her emails to directors that the Tennessee Department of Education wants to continue with online testing.

“But we understand that this has presented challenges to scheduling and morale,” she said. “We will share a further update on next steps for the testing window this afternoon.”

And Questar Assessment, the state’s testing vendor, continues to take steps to prevent a repeat attack, McQueen said.

“Questar has blocked the source of the unusual traffic patterns, and they continue to implement ways to prevent a recurrence,” she said. “We will be diligently monitoring.”

High schoolers and some middle school students are taking the online test this year. Elementary school students are taking the pencil and paper version of the test — they are unaffected by the issues

Metro Nashville Public Schools officials said some students have been able to access the tests and those who have will finish. Shelby County Schools officials reported high school students were having issues taking the test.