As testing season approaches, school districts across Ohio must ensure their devices and networks are prepared to handle the demands of digital testing.

Over the past couple of decades, state testing in Ohio and beyond has rapidly evolved. Scantron tests, which were invented by Michael Sokolski in 1972, have largely dominated standardized testing since its introduction. In the mid- to late-2000s, however, fully digital testing began to pick up steam. In Ohio, the first all-digital testing platform was rolled out just five years ago.

Since then, digital testing has become the norm. The AIR testing platform is now used statewide except in rare exceptions, and even college admissions tests such as the SAT and PSAT can now be administered digitally in Ohio. The benefits of digital testing are myriad: quicker, more accurate grading; immediate access to district- and school-wide data; no chance of tests or score cards getting lost or being “eaten” by a Scantron machine, and finally, the positive environmental impact of going paperless.

But digital testing also presents unique challenges that require districts to take an active part in testing season preparation. In addition to the sizable upfront cost of testing technology, digital tools require maintenance and upkeep that their paper predecessors do not. That’s why districts need to start preparing for the upcoming testing season now — here’s what they need to consider.

A Digital Testing IT Checklist

Testing season is complicated enough without throwing technical difficulties into the mix. Luckily, careful planning and strategic technology management can ensure districts don’t run into any surprises come test week.

An IT checklist to help districts prepare for testing season might include steps like:

• Check that your district has an adequate number of usable devices. Even if your district technically has enough laptops or tablets to get you through test week, it’s vital to take the time to inventory all devices. Without a robust and accurate lifecycle plan in place, you may find that devices that are suitable during the year won’t be usable for testing. Every student workstation needs to have AIR’s Secure Browser installed, but not all devices will meet the minimum hardware requirements or run on supported operating systems. Run an audit long before test week to ensure existing devices meet all testing requirements.
• Ensure your infrastructure can support high network volume. Test week will test the limits of your network infrastructure. Even if your infrastructure kept up with the increased network activity last testing season, it’s now one year older — if it hasn’t been recently updated, it might be wise to consider a revamp. A network assessment with a trusted managed services provider might be a good place to start.
• Consider network bandwidth and plan accordingly. If a school in your district is especially large, or if it’s too late or too expensive to upgrade the network, it may make sense to spread testing throughout multiple sessions. Planning ahead to schedule sessions can reduce the risk of devices saturating your network and causing slow speeds — or even a disastrous crash.
• Be prepared for accessibility accommodations. Not all students have the same needs, and districts must plan ahead to accommodate students who need extra time, a separate room, or assistive technology.
• Offer students the chance to practice digital testing prior to test season. Research suggests that scores on digital tests are slightly lower on average than scores on paper tests, most likely because students simply aren’t used to the format. Preparing for testing season far enough in advance to give students the opportunity to explore about the format prior to test-taking may be all it takes to make up the score disparity.

A Trusted IT Partner Will Set Your District Up for Success

Many district administrators already find preparing for testing season daunting, even before the technical element is taken into consideration. Particularly combined with their many day-to-day responsibilities, ensuring that devices and networks can handle test week can become downright overwhelming. That’s why more and more school districts across Ohio are turning to Vinson’s Managed IT Services.

Unlike other managed services providers, Vinson exclusively works with K-12 schools. As a result, our expert team understands the unique IT needs of Ohio public schools better than anyone else in the industry. We always begin by performing a complete top-to-bottom network survey, refreshing access points, switches, and routers as we go to ensure your district’s infrastructure is capable of supporting testing season.

Once that survey is complete, we’ll work with district administration to create a robust five-year tech plan, strategically leveraging E-Rate funding as well as our relationships with hardware and software vendors to offset the costs as much as possible. As former educators and school district administrators ourselves, we understand how hard your job is — and we want to help. Contact us today to find out how you might benefit from having a strategic IT partner.