Schools

Minnetonka Schools Suspended State MCA Testing for Additional Day

The district said "the data from these online tests will be largely unreliable based on the technical difficulties."

Last week, Minnetonka Schools suspended Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) test taking for an additional day.

The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) suspended testing across the state on April 16 due to server issues traced back to the vendor the state uses to administer online tests. Testing started back up the next day.

Testing was also suspended on April 23 at Minnetonka schools. Students are taking the tests again this week, and the tests are not currently suspended, said school district representatives.

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The state uses these tests to measure student progress to meet standards required by law.

"There have been no similar or widespread issues since last Wednesday," said Charlene Briner, chief of staff for the Minnesota Department of Education. "We continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis."

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Parents with children testing at Minnetonka schools received this email last week:

Dear Parents, 


As you may have read last week, many schools in the state experienced difficulties with online testing for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. This prompted our district to temporarily stop testing last Tuesday.  

When problems resurfaced this week, we suspended testing once again. Many districts have been impacted by these issues, and we are in communication with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to identify possible solutions. 

We understand how difficult this situation can be for our students, and we believe that the data from these online tests will be largely unreliable based on the technical difficulties. As expected, our staff and students have shown resilience and patience, and all are to be commended.  Despite the challenges, our students continue to give their best effort. 

District leadership is currently in discussion with MDE regarding solutions that will allow our students to have an uninterrupted testing experience where they are given the best opportunity to show what they know and can do. Once this discussion has produced results, we will communicate with all families immediately.

Thank you for your support as we work toward a reasonable and fair solution for our students and families. 

Sincerely,   

Eric Schneider 
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction


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