SITKA — Standardized testing at some Sitka schools was pushed back after the first day was cut short because of Internet connectivity problems in Kansas.
Sitka School District officials said the Alaska Measures of Progress test was halted Tuesday because a fiber optic cable that provides broadband to the University of Kansas was cut. The university's Achievement and Assessment Institute provides standardized testing to school districts throughout Alaska, the Sitka Sentinel reported.
The computerized test takes students about four to six hours to complete and is spread out over a two-week period. Superintendent Mary Wegner said that the test dates will be moved around.
"It just pushes us back a little bit but there shouldn't be any problems," Wegner said.
The 75 students from Sitka who were taking the exam when the server shut down should have their work saved, said Co-assistant Superintendent Sarah Ferrency.
"The system is designed so that if there is any disconnection for any reason at any time, their answers are saved," said Ferrency. "So we anticipate that students who were in the test at the time of the outage will be able to log back in and pick up where they left off."
The University of Kansas said in a news release that the cable had accidentally been severed near campus in the city of Lawrence. Officials said the cable should be repaired by Wednesday, Sitka station KCAW-FM reported.
This is the second and last year that students will take the Alaska Measures of Progress exam, which the state Department of Education decided to replace with a different testing service in January.