Will Los Angeles schools have enough Internet access for students to take state tests?
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
Russ Swanson, left, a virtual learning complex facilitator, works with second graders at Baldwin Hills Elementary to get their iPads online.
L.A. Unified is switching from state exams taken with papers and pencils to digital assessments this spring, and officials are still not sure how they will pull it off.
Part of the problem is getting online. Of the 402 schools scheduled for IT work, only about 15 percent will have upgrades "substantially completed" by the time testing begins, according to district documents. And 83 IT projects are scheduled to be underway during the testing window.
The district is now surveying schools to find out if their computers can connect to the secure testing site, hosted by test developer Smarter Balance.
The survey also asks schools to count computers – desktops, laptops and other tablets – that will be brought into the testing fleet, along side the 30,000 new iPads purchased so far.
Superintendent John Deasy is also requesting 67,500 more iPads and 18,500 new laptops. They will have to be shared amongst the 423,852 students scheduled to