Server outage briefly disrupts TCAP tests in Tennessee schools Friday

A server that powers standardized testing in Tennessee was down briefly on Friday morning, temporarily halting testing for some districts.

The server, owned by Pearson Assessments, was back up and running by 8:50 a.m. CT on Friday, according to Brian Blackley, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Education. The server also supports other states, according to Blackley.

"Many schools use Friday as a day for makeup tests and, obviously, tests administered via paper were not affected," Blackley said.

Metro Nashville Public Schools spokesperson Sean Braisted and Williamson County Schools spokesperson Carol Birdsong confirmed their districts paused testing but that the issue was resolved quickly.

Past TNReady testing issues

Tennessee has experienced technical issues in the past with administering assessments, including its TNReady tests for math, English language arts, social studies and science.

In April 2018, the state's testing vendor QueStar reported a possible "deliberate attack" on its computer systems. High school testing was halted statewide and some districts canceled tests for the day. The state department of education added extra testing days to make up for the disruption.

In spring 2016, the first year Tennessee used TNReady, it had issues with yet another vendor named Measurement Inc. That year, server problems led the state to cancel elementary and middle school testing altogether, while high school students took a paper-and-pencil TNReady test.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Pearson server outage briefly disrupts TCAP tests in Tennessee Friday