After days of issues with state TNReady testing, state lawmakers want to make sure the results don't penalize the students or the schools.
Students started taking the online standardized tests on Monday, but thousands of students couldn't log into the system. Problems persisted on Tuesday, when Tennessee education officials said the company handling the online portion of the TNReady test "may have experienced a deliberate attack."
State Rep. Eddie Smith, of Knoxville, introduced legislation Thursday to stop the TNReady tests from counting against students, teachers and schools after days of technical difficulties.
Channel 10 reached out to school districts across East Tennessee to find out what their plan is moving forward.
Athens City Schools
School leaders are set to discuss their plan at a later date but said they will do what's best for the students. The district said online testing went will and students will continue testing. The online system worked for 640 students.
Clinton City Schools
Students did not need to take the online test. They used paper-pencil testing and the district is not sure if they will even have to make a decision on whether to count the scores.
Etowah City Schools
Students will take the TNReady tests next week. Grades 3-8 are taking paper-pencil tests. The scores will count unless there's an issue that the district is not aware of at this time.
Grainger County Schools
The district wants to recommend that scores do not count but the decision has has to be discussed with the board. Elementary students took paper-pencil tests.
Greeneville City Schools
Students did not start testing until Tuesday and only faced minimal issues. The director has not decided if scores will be counted.
Knox County Schools
The school board voted on May 9 to not incorporate TNReady scores for high school students' final grade unless it benefits the student. If it benefits the student, it will count for 5 percent.
Maryville City Schools
A decision is expected by next week. Less than 10 students had an issue and those issues were on Monday and Tuesday. Overall, the district said testing was successful and there were only some delays.
Monroe County Schools
Tim Blankenship, Director of Schools, provided the following statement:
"As Director of Schools, I fully support my teachers, administrators, and students, and I share in their frustration with the testing issues. Tremendous amounts of hard work and preparation have gone into this process at every level, and to have the testing system fail is unacceptable.
The percentage a score counts in a student's grade is a part of Monroe County School Board policy. It is our belief that this score should not count against our students, and we have made that recommendation to the board members. Our next monthly meeting will be May 3, 2018, and we expect our board to discuss and vote on this topic then."
Newport City Schools
There were no issues. Students K-8 took paper-pencil tests.
Scott County Schools
The school district said it will have to discuss with the school board and go over what benefits the students. They did testing in the fall so they don't know if they would count one semester and not the other. Students tested Friday with little problems.
Sevier County Schools
A decision has not been made. Testing did not start until Wednesday so they have not seen any issues. It would be a board decision if they decided not to count test scores.
Sweetwater City Schools
Testing is only done through grade 8 and they do paper-pencil testing so they didn't face any issues.
Union County Schools
The district will tell the school board they do not want to count scores. Students faced a lot of issues. Many high school students had problems. Elementary and middle school students had paper-pencil testing.