Each Spring, the state of Minnesota requires public schools to administer standardized tests to measure students progress towards Minnesota’s academic standards. For the first time in Minnesota history, the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) in Math, Reading, and Science are all being taken on computers.

“I’m sure the reason behind the change is financial because it used to be an option where schools could pick between testing books and computers,” said Sarah Chamberlain, testing coordinator.

Prior to making the change from paper to computer testing, the Minnesota Department of Education researched if the change in test taking style would affect students scores.

“They have done studies and claim that scores from students who take the MCAs on computers versus paper and pencil are comparable,” Chamberlain said.

There are plenty of computers at HHS for the MCAs to be taken on.

“Our school is well endowed with computer space. It works best to test students to take the tests on desktop computers as opposed to laptops,” Chamberlain said.

Taylor Vanderploeg, junior, recently took the Math MCA and had a technical difficulty during the test.

“I have not been in math since first semester and I’m done taking math in high school, so I don’t have a calculator. I thought it would be okay because there is a graphing calculator on the computer, but after two problems it glitched out and I was unable to use a calculator for the remainder of the test,” Vanderploeg said.

In the past, Chamberlain has had experiences with students who failed MCAs on the computer, but passed when they retook them on paper. Students are able to use scratch paper during all of the MCA tests, but it is different than writing on paper.

“I like taking notes, I like being able to write out the problems. I most definitely think I may have scored worse because it was on computer as opposed to paper,” Vanderploeg said.

Taking the MCAs on computers will not affect the time it takes for the Minnesota Department of Education to send students their results.

“You will not get your official results any faster, but if students are curious they could come find out from me because I receive a report before they are officially sent to students,” Chamberlain said.