Legal Twists, Digital Turns.

South Dakota officials announced this past winter as of May 8, 2003 that they were making the state's much-touted online testing program voluntary for districts, and instead requiring new paper-and-pencil tests to meet the requirements of the“No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001. While many experts predict the law could lead to a moderate slowing-down of computer-based testing at the state level, they anticipate a boom in low-stakes, technology-based assessments at the district level to help students prepare for the state exams. Technological innovations also could make state tests more accessible to special populations of students, such as those with disabilities or limited fluency in English, who must be included in state testing systems under the federal legislation. Schools already can opt to administer state reading and math tests in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10 either electronically or on paper through the Technology Enhanced Student Assessment program, or TESA, and the state will pilot additional online tests in other grades this spring.