OR goes back to bubble tests due to computer mishaps

After a prolonged dispute with an academic testing company, Oregon education officials have decided to abandon computer testing in favor of the paper-and-pencil, fill-in-the-bubble tests, reports the Oregonian.

The decision by state education department was made after some tests were administered and students either couldn't complete testing because the system had slowed down or their results were not recorded, making the test unreliable.

Before the dispute, about 85 percent of Oregon public school students were taking their yearly academic progress tests online.

Needless to say, some students aren't thrilled with having to take the test again.

"That's not fair," said Sione Taumoeanga, a fifth-grader at Clarendon Elementary School in North Portland. "I already took the test. I still can't believe it got erased," he said, adding that results from the science test he took also vanished.

The testing company, Vantage Learning of Newtown, Pa., says that the system is reliable and that the slowdown was due to having too many students trying to access the system at once.

Although Vantage has cancelled the contract with the state for nonpayment of $2.8 million, Robert Patrylak, a lawyer for Vantage, says he hopes payment issues could be resolved.