Still Not F*&#ing Ready

TNReady Phase II is supposed to be starting, except it won’t. It seems that shipping delays will prevent at least eight school districts from starting the planned administration of Phase II next week.

In Sumner County, emails have gone out confirming the delay and a new planned start date of May 2nd.

Officials in seven other districts have confirmed they have yet to receive the testing materials.

This comes after a disastrous first day of TNReady testing back in February and subsequent shipping delays of Phase 1 paper materials.

It also comes after the Murfreesboro City School Board discussed refusing to administer Phase II and the Tullahoma City Schools considered a resolution calling on the state to stop any further testing this year.

From the start, the transition to TNReady has been bungled. While Commissioner McQueen continues to make excuses, blame the vendor, and promise a better outcome next time, students in Tennessee schools face disrupted schedules and loss of learning time.

Instead of issuing threats to districts, perhaps the Department of Education should have been developing solutions or simply responding to the frustrations of students, parents, and teachers across the state. Maybe stopping after Phase I would have allowed for a true course correction.

In any case, we’re still not TNReady.

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