Schools throughout Texas have experienced some technical difficulty this month regarding the STAAR test due to a statewide outage of the Education Testing System (ETS). The company administers the test annually, this year deciding to distribute tests on paper, online, or both.  

Among those impacted by the ETS shortage: English I, 4th, and 7th grade students. An investigation of the causation is ongoing, as Clear Creek ISD has yet to make a statement. Parents, students, and staff have expressed their discontent with the event. In response, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released a statement Tuesday: 

“All involved in public education in Texas should expect better than what they have experienced today; we are working to ensure that our students do not experience future testing issues.” 

Problems for students ranged from slow computer response time to not being able to log in to the test to begin with. Some even got as far as halfway through the test, lost access of the browser, and will have to continue their test another day from where they left off. 

Despite controversy, there are currently no plans to completely scrap the STAAR. 

Thousands of students were affected by the incident, causing pauses across the state. Chargers are on track to test throughout the week of 4/12, barring any similar incident.