By Christopher Magan

St. Paul Pioneer Press

St. Paul — The tests Minnesota students are required to take will remain on educators’ minds over the summer break.

The education funding and policy bill passed June 12 by state lawmakers in a special legislative session complicated the state’s testing system.

The legislation includes: a mandatory analysis of how computer glitches affected online achievement tests, a reduction in required tests and a cap on testing time, a cut to the state’s testing budget and a new mandatory writing test for students.

In July, the Human Resources Research Organization, or HumRRO, will report to the Minnesota Department of Education whether repeated computer glitches and crashes students experienced this spring while taking the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, or MCAs, hurt their scores. The education bill stipulated the study and gives districts the option of setting scores aside if they were hurt by problems with provider Pearson’s system.

Many educators, including leaders of state teachers union Education Minnesota, encouraged lawmakers to allow districts to set aside results from flawed online tests. Standardized test supporters pushed for a wait-and-see approach before making any decisions.

Brenda Cassellius, state education commissioner, has said repeatedly she would wait for the scores to be analyzed before making any decisions about the impact of the online problems.

It is unlikely the state will withhold test results they are required to report to the U.S. Department of Education under the No Child Left Behind Law.

“We have to, under federal law, report those students’ test scores,” said Kevin McHenry, assistant education commissioner. “There are potential financial penalties that could be involved if we don’t.”

The state uses MCA scores in its Multiple Measurement Rating accountability system that grades schools on students’ achievement, academic growth, graduation rate and schools’ success closing the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their peers.

Districts could choose to disregard problematic scores from their teacher evaluations, McHenry said. Those systems are under the local control of school districts.

HumRRO did a similar statistical analysis in 2013 after students experienced similar computer problems with online tests provided by the American Institutes for Research, or AIR. That study found the problems did not have a significant impact on students’ test results.

Minnesota has an ongoing contract with HumRRO for statistical analysis and other services. Since 2010, the state has paid HumRRO nearly $2 million for its services.

State education officials are also weighing whether to seek financial penalties from Pearson for the repeated testing problems. If Pearson doesn’t live up to its $38 million contract the state can withhold funds or seek other remedies.

“We are working with our attorneys to determine what steps we can take to hold them accountable,” McHenry said.

Earlier this year, Gov. Mark Dayton said he wanted to substantially reduce the number of mandatory standardized tests students take. He proposed eliminating about one-third of the federal and state tests.

Minnesota never formally asked to reduce federal tests, but officials from the U.S. Department of Education were quick to tell state leaders they would not support eliminating tests given annually for federal accountability.

The testing reduction state lawmakers were able to agree on is a mixed bag.

The education bill eliminates several college readiness tests but requires districts pay for students to take the ACT.