Amador Valley High Students Posted to Social Media During STAR Testing

The California State Department of Education lists Amador Valley High School as one of 16 schools in the state that had students who posted "legible test items" onto social media during California Standardized Testing and Reporting testing in 2013.

A total of 242 California schools had students who posted to social media during 2013 STAR testing but only 16 of the schools had students whose posts were test items that were recognizable, according to a statement released by the California State Department of Education. That number is jumped from last year's 216 schools posting during STAR testing.

District spokesperson Nicole Steward says there are security breaches every year throughout the state and that the Pleasanton Unified School District takes proactive approach try to prevent it among students.

Steward says teachers collect phones before testing and some post a sign at the front of the classroom that reads, "Unauthorized electronic devices MAY NOT be used at any time during the testing session" while also reading the test guidelines to students reiterating the same.  

Steward added that teachers are also expected to walk the room during testing, but do not check online during testing. 

According to Steward, officials at Amador Valley self-reported the incidents to the district once they became aware of the posts.

Steward told Patch, via email:

"Any security breach must be self-reported by the school to the district and from the district to CDE.  In an effort to be honest and transparent, Amador Valley administration notified us of the incident as soon as they were aware.  It was promptly investigated (including interviews with the students and teachers proctoring), the photo was removed from the device by the student, and the post on social media was promptly removed by the student.  

We have to remember that students today are used to posting everything they do on social media.  Taking a test is just another ‘event’ in their day, worthy of being noted on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine, etc.  However, when it comes to testing, answer documents and test booklets should not be posted.  None of the posts involved cheating.

Every year we do a STAR training for administrators who in turn provide the training to their staff.  We will continue to conduct these trainings, reiterating test security protocols."

Statement released by the California Department of Education:

Heightened monitoring and reporting of California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessments this year identified 242 schools where social media postings occurred during administration of the tests, only 16 of which included postings of test questions or answers.

None of the postings affected school test results. As in 2012, when similar numbers of social media postings occurred, the majority involved students posing with the covers of test booklets or with materials that were not legible. The California Department of Education (CDE) placed a cautionary flag on the publicly posted test results for all schools where a posting occurred. (A list of the flagged schools is attached.)

“We take the validity and reliability of our assessments very seriously, and our schools do too, which is why we redoubled our efforts to monitor these postings and alerted school districts when they occurred,” said Deputy Superintendent Deb Sigman, who oversees assessments and accountability issues for CDE. “These postings look to be attempts by students to gain attention among their friends, not an effort to gain an advantage on a test.”

The 242 schools identified this year compares with 216 schools in 2012. That year, 12 schools had postings that included legible test questions or answers.

In addition to the more rigorous monitoring, CDE also conducted random security audits, instructed examiners and STAR coordinators as to the proper protocol, and reinforced the responsibilities of local officials to maintain security of all test material.

Though the implications for accountability have not yet been determined, in general, if a security breach affects less than 5 percent of the number of students tested, the school is ineligible for academic awards. If the breach affects more than 5 percent of the number of students tested, the school’s API—the state’s measure of accountability—could be invalidated.

Final decisions regarding accountability reports for affected schools will be made within the next few weeks, when CDE releases its statewide accountability reports.