As promised, the Tennessee Department of Education released results from this year’s TCAP test for third-graders to districts on Friday. However, it wasn’t until after 3:30pm that the data was delivered.
Districts still have to sort through the data and identify exclusions – students who are English Learners or have a disability that affects their ability to read – before they can notify families of student status. Students failing to score “proficient” are eligible for a retake, and that exam window is scheduled to be open for the ten school days from May 22 to June 5.
“Third-grade parents have been anxiously awaiting results,” Tara Bergfeld, a parent of a third grader attending a Nashville school said. She added, “The delay means that school leaders have to scramble this week to administer a retake days before school lets out.”
At Friday’s SBE meeting, the TDOE told SBE members that students have been taking benchmark tests, as required by law, all year. They feel that TCAP results shouldn’t be a surprise to parents.
Bergfeld doesn’t feel that is sufficient. She says, “My child’s benchmark tests indicate a huge level of growth this year. But I still don’t trust that his TN Ready results will reflect the proficiency and growth his teacher has quantified through classroom work and the benchmark assessments. Using the results from a snapshot in time as opposed to a holistic review of a student’s progress is not a good policy, and threatening retention impacts a child on a deeply personal level.
She added, “I, however, have the knowledge and ability to appeal this decision if necessary; many other families may not understand the process, and their child could be unnecessarily held back. While the intent behind the law is commendable, this is a blunt and short-sighted process to address a systemic issue in our schools statewide. If we want to increase reading proficiency, we need to properly resource our teachers and provide the supports they need, like co-teaching models and more planning time.”
J.C. Bowman, Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, shares her concerns but goes further.
Bowman told The Tennessee Star, “Whether you were in support of, or opposed to, the 3rd Grade Retention part of the new literacy law —- there is almost universal agreement that the implementation and timeline were poorly planned. The Tennessee State Board didn’t finish with the rules on what constitutes “adequate growth” until Friday, May 19th, 2023. The raw scores did not get back from Pearson and the State Department of Education until Friday afternoon, May 19th, 2023. This leaves students, parents, schools, and districts scrambling now and rushing to meet new deadlines. It is a classic example of good intentions meeting ineffective bureaucracy.”
Some Tennessee families received notices from their local district informing them of their student’s status late Friday or Saturday. Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) informed parents that it would be Monday before they could expect notification.
According to a TDOE spokesperson, the state education department did not publicly release the raw scores since they contain protected, student-level data. Rather, it sent them directly to the districts. It is up to districts to communicate results.
The release of the TCAP results comes as TDOE leadership is in flux. Commissioner Schwinn has resigned effective June 1. Her replacement, Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds does not start until July 1, but sources told The Star that Reynolds plans to meet with legislators and department officials starting June 15. Current Deputy Superintendent Sam Pearcy will serve as acting director in the interim between the two.
Students who don’t score “proficient” on the initial TCAP are eligible to retest. Those students who don’t score “proficient” on either exam must repeat fourth grade unless certain criteria are met.
Those who score “approaching” can move to fourth grade if they either attend a state-sponsored summer camp or enroll in a high dosage tutoring program for the upcoming year. If they choose to attend camp, they must maintain a 90% attendance and achieve adequate growth as measured by a post-camp assessment.
That post-test will not be the TCAP, but state officials have said that vendor Pearson is developing a “TCAP-style” test. Its questions will align with state academic standards, and not include a writing portion.
On Friday, the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE) codified the rules for the definition of adequate growth. A student must grow by 5 percentage points between the Spring TCAP and the post-camp exam. Students can avoid concerns over adequate growth by simply enrolling in a tutoring program.
Students in the “below” category must do both summer camp and a tutoring program. They are not subject to the adequate growth requirement.
MNPS currently has a total of 16,418 students enrolled in Promising Scholars, the summer program offered by MNPS. Roughly 23 percent of those are third-graders, who make up 3,707 of the enrollments.
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TC Weber is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. He also writes the blog Dad Gone Wild. Follow TC on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]. He’s the proud parent of two public school children and the spouse of a public school teacher.
Photo “Students” by Tima Miroshnichenko.
