By Ian Whitaker, Las Vegas Sun

Around this time last year, Nevada’s new Common Core test had only succeeded at being broken.

Due to the testing company’s technical problems, schools were thrown into chaos for weeks as teachers and staff struggled to get the computer-based Smarter Balanced test to work for the thousands of third- through eighth-graders required to take it.

Fast-forward to this year, and the situation has almost completely reversed.

The Smarter Balanced test assesses students’ mastery of English and math skills set out in the Common Core, and is mandated by the federal government to ensure schools are doing a good job of educating students. But due to last year’s issues, officials were unable to collect that information.

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