? Many Kansas students participated in a statewide effort to “break” the state’s online mathematics and reading testing system to find its technical limits and uncover any problems.

The effort came after the state encountered several problems administering the tests last year, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Officials said a mix of technical issues and cyberattacks were to blame for paralyzing state testing for a month.

Last year’s exams were a pilot run, but test results this spring will count toward a school’s accreditation. Education officials want to make sure that testing process goes as smoothly as possible.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of students across Kansas logged onto the system as a part of “Break KITE Day.” Marianne Perie of the University of Kansas said that the practice run helped identify a caching problem that temporarily stopped the program in the morning.

“It was great to find that out,” said Perie, director of the college’s Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation. It designs and administers KITE, or the Kansas Interactive Testing Engine.

The problem was fixed by testing center staff within a few hours. Two other problems also were discovered during the exercise. Some students couldn’t access text-to-speech functions and some schools didn’t get full login information for their students.

“We will figure that out, and we will get that fixed,” Perie said.

Administrators from Shawnee County school districts said the trial run helped them feel more confident about the tests and served as a check for technical issues.

“It’s a dress rehearsal for what we’re doing in the spring,” said Tim Urich, principal at Shawnee Heights Middle School. “All the teachers have said this is a much better experience.”