FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2015
Contact: Josh Collins, josh.collins@state.mn.us, 651-582-8205

Minnesota Department of Education Temporarily Suspends Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments

Roseville -- Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius announced today that the state will temporarily suspend administration of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, until all technical problems with the testing system are resolved.

Over the past week there have been three days during which students have experienced issues logging into the testing system. The testing window has been open since March 9 without major incident, with nearly 400,000 tests completed. As the number of students testing neared its peak today, Pearson has identified some technical problems with their system and are currently working to resolve them. These technical problems have not adversely impacted the 400,000 tests that have already been completed.

"Students already give up precious instructional time for annual accountability tests," said Cassellius. "We cannot allow these disruptions to further impact student learning."

Pearson is working on identifying the technical issues that are causing the problems. The department has informed Pearson that testing cannot resume until they assure the state that students will encounter an error-free and smooth testing experience.

"We hold our students to high standards and we expect no less of Pearson. Students deserve a worry-free testing experience without interruptions," said Cassellius.

-30-