Fulton Schools Cancels Testing Due To Vendor Challenges

FULTON COUNTY, GA — More than 14,000 students across Fulton County will no longer finish standardize testing this week after the district said there were vendor challenges.

A Fulton Schools spokesman emailed county officials saying, "We recognize the stress that this has put on your students, teachers, and schools. A timeline for developing a reliable technical solution has not been established by our IOWA vendor. At this time, we have decided to cancel all remaining IOWA testing for the 2019-2020 school year."

The district says on its website that the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are norm-referenced tests.

"Georgia law mandates that a nationally norm-referenced test, such as the ITBS, be administered annually to students in grades three, five, and eight," the district said. "The purpose of a norm-referenced test is to obtain information about the performance of Georgia's students and compare it with that of students in a national sample. The results are used for evaluation, decision-making, and instructional improvement."

The test was distributed to more than 14,000 elementary and middle school students at 61 schools.

The spokesman went on to say that, "canceling the IOWA administration will result in changes to our TAG testing and eligibility process. The Academics Division is working on a plan to ensure that all students who are eligible for TAG testing are administered a valid and reliable assessment in the place of IOWA."

“The district is preparing a plan to provide the Stanford 9 as an achievement score for any students who meet screening criteria and need the score for eligibility," a statement to CBS46 said. "This plan will be shared with principals by the end of the day on Oct. 25.”

Testing began on Monday for students in third, fifth and eighth grade, but schools said there were issues with the online testing while administering the test.

"All scores from tests taken on Monday are invalid because students were unable to access materials, were interrupted many times and encountered other problems," the AJC reported.

“This decision will not negatively impact your child in any way. Plans are being made to ensure that all student placement decisions using IOWA results will be adjusted as needed,” the district said in a statement to the AJC.