My child had only 6 minutes for the first part of CES test

[Anonymous]

She came home from testing and said she was certain that when she began, the timer gave her only 6 minutes instead of the expected 10 for the first set of questions. Did this happen to anyone else? I asked about it at the school and the proctor told me the test timer would start if a child tapped, even accidentally, on their Chromebook and that she might have tapped something to go forward and then immediately back and been unaware that her timer was going while he gave directions. He said he couldn’t control the timer and he could see that at least one other student looked like they did the same thing. Nothing to be done.

I can accept this, but wonder if this biases the test against fidgety kids.
Fwiw, my daughter is attentive and quite certain that she did NOT tap while waiting through instructions... but she is 8. I didn’t want to quiz her about it too much and make her think it was a big deal, but I’m surprised to hear that kids have the possibility to sabotage a timed test this way.

[Anonymous]

It's a little ridiculous that they don't have a way of just starting the test on the chromebooks for all the kids at once. They're 8 years old; they're prone to hitting something by accident.

I'd bring it up with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a little ridiculous that they don't have a way of just starting the test on the chromebooks for all the kids at once. They're 8 years old; they're prone to hitting something by accident.

I'd bring it up with the school.

My thoughts, too, but when I spoke to the school they said it was too bad and that there was nothing to be done.

[Anonymous]

Well I guess you already have your story for when your child doesn't get in. Oh the unfairness!

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, OP. It's really frustrating that test conditions are that bad. In this day and age, they really should not be like this. We have the means and the technology to do better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I guess you already have your story for when your child doesn't get in. Oh the unfairness!

This might be a systemic issue. Some would say that 40% less time is, in fact, less fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I guess you already have your story for when your child doesn't get in. Oh the unfairness!

oh come on. stop being nasty. it really is ridiculous. in every test environment I've ever been in--even when I took the GRE--the test administrator started the time for everyone at once.

[Anonymous]

The same was true with the PARCC. When a child touched the plain background outside the questions test box window area, this would end the test and submit scores, even if a child would do it within the first seconds of the test.
That is why people practiced with the test not so much the content but sheer testing process
that was unnecessarily complicated for small children of whom many do not have much
experience with portable devices and testing process.
Kids were traumatized by fear not to click anywhere, some more then of the test itself.
It is important to know that a child did not go outside the testing window as the testing
window was covered the entire screen area, it was all about clicking outside
of the text box within the testing screen area.

Try to search this forum for PARCC and you might find similarities.

I don't know how parents or teachers solved this issue or approached it as I don't have
personal experience with this but you might gain some insight by searching the past posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same was true with the PARCC. When a child touched the plain background outside the questions test box window area, this would end the test and submit scores, even if a child would do it within the first seconds of the test.
That is why people practiced with the test not so much the content but sheer testing process
that was unnecessarily complicated for small children of whom many do not have much
experience with portable devices and testing process.
Kids were traumatized by fear not to click anywhere, some more then of the test itself.
It is important to know that a child did not go outside the testing window as the testing
window was covered the entire screen area, it was all about clicking outside
of the text box within the testing screen area.

Try to search this forum for PARCC and you might find similarities.

I don't know how parents or teachers solved this issue or approached it as I don't have
personal experience with this but you might gain some insight by searching the past posts.

Honestly, this is why we really should go back to paper and pencil tests. The teacher says "ready and ... go!" and everyone opens their test booklet and starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same was true with the PARCC. When a child touched the plain background outside the questions test box window area, this would end the test and submit scores, even if a child would do it within the first seconds of the test.
That is why people practiced with the test not so much the content but sheer testing process
that was unnecessarily complicated for small children of whom many do not have much
experience with portable devices and testing process.
Kids were traumatized by fear not to click anywhere, some more then of the test itself.
It is important to know that a child did not go outside the testing window as the testing
window was covered the entire screen area, it was all about clicking outside
of the text box within the testing screen area.

Try to search this forum for PARCC and you might find similarities.

I don't know how parents or teachers solved this issue or approached it as I don't have
personal experience with this but you might gain some insight by searching the past posts.

Honestly, this is why we really should go back to paper and pencil tests. The teacher says "ready and ... go!" and everyone opens their test booklet and starts.

And then a kid would accidentally skip one question on the answer sheet and the entire set of answers down below would end up wrong. C'mon, PP, you know that 'paper and pencil' tests are not foolproof, either!

[Anonymous]

I think it would be helpful to complain to ARI about this situation. It might not help your child, OP, but it could send them on the path of fixing this for next year. If they don’t hear about these issues, they definitely won’t know to think about a fix.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, Typo: AEI

[Anonymous]

Raise it at the next PTA meeting in front of other parents. That way, other parents create a big stink about it and Principal will at least have to look into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She came home from testing and said she was certain that when she began, the timer gave her only 6 minutes instead of the expected 10 for the first set of questions. Did this happen to anyone else? I asked about it at the school and the proctor told me the test timer would start if a child tapped, even accidentally, on their Chromebook and that she might have tapped something to go forward and then immediately back and been unaware that her timer was going while he gave directions. He said he couldn’t control the timer and he could see that at least one other student looked like they did the same thing. Nothing to be done.

I can accept this, but wonder if this biases the test against fidgety kids.
Fwiw, my daughter is attentive and quite certain that she did NOT tap while waiting through instructions... but she is 8. I didn’t want to quiz her about it too much and make her think it was a big deal, but I’m surprised to hear that kids have the possibility to sabotage a timed test this way.

OP, apparently, your child did tap a wrong key before the test started, hence the entire snafu.. In any case, your child's chances of getting in are pretty slim even with 10 minutes of testing, so you could use this snag as a teaching moment for your daughter coming forward. Tell her to pay extra attention to what's happening during the test; that's the best all children could do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be helpful to complain to ARI about this situation. It might not help your child, OP, but it could send them on the path of fixing this for next year. If they don’t hear about these issues, they definitely won’t know to think about a fix.

OP here. This was a great suggestion, thank you. I spoke with the AEI office and they were incredibly attentive and helpful. Sounds like it was almost certainly a series of unfortunate events that created a local glitch with the timers and not necessarily systemwide, but they are now aware of it. If you feel there was a problem with your child’s testing, they can investigate a great deal through the testing company. Always great to have a public official doing their job so cheerfully and thoroughly. And thanks to all here for the feedback.