Alaska has had a rough time regarding administration of state-mandated assessments. To date, there is no testing vendor in place for the Spring 2017 state testing. The state has been waiting for a law that went into effect in late October to start the decision process on who will provide the test. The new law allows them to bypass the bidding process, and choose a vendor on their own without the restraints of bidding. Alaska hopes to have a vendor in place by December 1st. By allowing the state education department to bypass the bidding process, more flexibility has been given to choose a new testing provider, thus cutting the time it takes to select one in half.
Over the past few years, Alaska has used an assessment Institute at the University of Kansas. Feedback from this provider has not been beneficial. Results of testing were not performed in a timely manner nor was the data useful to districts. In addition, internet connection issues last year caused major havoc for schools. In the end, Alaska decided to void their 5-year contract with the vendor.
Alaska has 53 districts and one State operated boarding school. It is essential for the state to determine an assessment vendor or face the possibility of losing federal funding. Alaska has applied for an exemption from testing requirements for 2016. The request is still under review according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In August the state publicized an informal request for a new testing provider. The information sent by these vendors is being reviewed. The names of the potential vendors are confidential because the state is still in the deliberating process.
The state is looking for a provider that can offer them a once an academic year assessment in pen and paper, plus an online format. Alaska wants results to be given in a timely manner, in our to compare data results across districts and throughout the state. The new test provider will cover assessments for Math, ELA, and Science. The new state assessments are projected to be administered in late March or April 2017.
