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Hoping to avoid the widespread technical failures that caused online testing breakdowns in a number of states last spring, education officials are communicating regularly with testing providers and planning dress rehearsals far ahead of the next rounds of online tests in 2013-14.

鈥淒istricts need to have a punch list and make sure they have everything they need to be ready,鈥� said Keith R. Krueger, the CEO of the Washington-based , or COSN, a professional association for school district technology leaders. 鈥淏ut they also have to understand that high-stakes testing is a complicated environment. They鈥檙e not going to be able to control everything.鈥�

Though more breakdowns likely are inevitable given online testing鈥檚 relatively new place in schools, the ability to protect the validity, integrity, and security of the process is increasingly crucial as districts in 46 states鈥攖hose that have adopted the Common Core State Standards鈥攇ear up for mandatory online assessments starting in 2014-15.

In the meantime, states that dealt with disruptions in online testing are going through checklists: Do districts have enough bandwidth? A strong infrastructure? Are testing providers doing all they can to prevent a repeat performance?

Ken Draut, an associate commissioner of education in the Kentucky Department of Education鈥檚 office of assessment and accountability, said his state put Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT Inc. 鈥渙n notice鈥� after problems with online end-of-course exams were .

鈥淭hey have to show us their system works,鈥� he said, 鈥渙r we鈥檒l abandon the online model this year.鈥�

A stress test scheduled for mid-November will put 20,000 students statewide on the testing provider鈥檚 system at one time, Mr. Draut said, adding that he鈥檚 鈥渃onfident that at a state level, our infrastructure has enough bandwidth and access to support online testing for all kids.鈥� The students will take a full battery of sample tests. Given the state鈥檚 estimate that it will have roughly 15,000 students taking official tests on any given day next spring, a successful outcome would provide assurances, although ACT isn鈥檛 off the hook. Mr. Draut said the state will continue to have weekly meetings with the company through next May.

In Oklahoma, about 3,000 of the 300,000 students taking the exams last spring experienced problems like being logged out of tests and unable to restart.

Eric S. Hileman, the executive director of information technology for the 40,000-student Oklahoma City schools, said department heads are examining 鈥済ranular-level data"鈥攊n addition to the technology-readiness tools developed by testing providers ctb/McGraw-Hill and Pearson鈥攖o help determine the root cause of the breakdowns in his district.

Meanwhile, despite the movement toward wireless education in recent years, testing providers 鈥渁re saying they need us wired for better performance,鈥� said Mr. Hileman. 鈥淔rom a cost perspective, we weren鈥檛 prepared for that.鈥�

In the midst of building gyms for the district鈥檚 46 elementary schools, work that began after a bond measure passed in 2007, the district now is wiring them during construction to support mass testing.

At the same time, Oklahoma City is using testing provider Edusoft for benchmark testing this fall to see whether similar issues pop up. There have been sporadic problems so far, but nothing officials believe would signal a significant setback. Whatever testing provider the district winds up using, there will be a dress rehearsal next spring.

鈥淭here are a lot of places where things can break down in a district this size,鈥� Mr. Hileman said, including slow response times and updates. 鈥淩ight now, our focus is on providing the most reliable connection to the outside world for those testing companies, and once that is finished, the rest will fall into place. I have rather rose-colored glasses, but that鈥檚 my hope.鈥�

Bandwidth is a critical concern for many districts. In a fall of school district leaders conducted by COSN and Market Data Retrieval, or MDR, an education market-research firm based in Shelton, Conn., 99 percent of respondents indicated a need for more Internet bandwidth and connectivity in the next 36 months.

Paper-and-Pencil Option

The 90,000-student Albuquerque school system in New Mexico fixed online testing troubles several years ago with fiber network upgrades and new network-management tools. The district will continue encouraging staff members not to stream videos, listen to online music, or use other high-bandwidth applications during testing windows, said Tom Ryan, the chief executive officer of the eLearn Institute, a nonprofit company based in Wyomissing, Pa., that aims to transform learning through digital education. He is the district鈥檚 former chief information officer and a COSN board member.

A positive performance on Kentucky鈥檚 November stress test might not be enough to alleviate concerns about online breakdowns for Robert Rodosky and Erica Thompson, the co-assessment coordinators for the state鈥檚 largest district, the 101,500-student Jefferson County school system, which includes the city of Louisville.

With six testing windows throughout the year, they had doubts about online reliability when in April 2013 some computer screens froze during the fifth testing window. Despite the fact that only a small number of students were affected, and those students were able to finish the tests at a later time, the coordinators decided to go with paper-and-pencil tests for the final and largest testing window. They made that decision despite assurances from the state that all problems were solved.

From what they鈥檝e witnessed since in other states, that solution may be the method of choice for a while.

鈥淎s of right now, in my eyes, we鈥檙e doing paper-and-pencil tests all year,鈥� said Ms. Thompson. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens with the stress test, and if all goes well, we will have a conversation. But this is high-stakes testing. We just can鈥檛 afford to take any risks.鈥�

For the greatest success rate with online testing, districts need to plan ahead.

Said COSN鈥檚 Mr. Krueger: 鈥淭his is a puzzle, and we have to make sure everyone understands what they鈥檙e responsible for in putting the puzzle together.鈥�