The states have taken different approaches – and the results suggest that Tennessee just might be on the wrong track.
What’s happened in the intervening 10 years? Has Tennessee closed the gap with Kentucky when it comes to economically disadvantaged kids?
Actually, no.
In both 8th-grade math and reading, the gap with Kentucky has expanded. Tennessee trailed Kentucky by 2 points in 8th-grade math in 2013 but now trails by 7. In reading, Kentucky went from being 2 points ahead to being 6 points ahead.
In 4th grade in both math and reading, the gap between the states remained the same (+3 for Kentucky in math, +8 for Kentucky in reading).
Turns out, another decade of pushing for privatization has not helped those Tennessee kids most in need of help.
It’s TNReady trouble time – an annual event in Tennessee
Ah, yes. It’s that time of year again. The time of TNReady troubles.
This year, of course, the TNReady issue is compounded with a new and ridiculous third grade retention law.
We’ll start there.
As a result of the devastating new law, third grade students who didn’t meet a certain score on the ELA portion of TNReady this year are subject to being held back. To avoid that fate, they can participate in summer school and possibly have a tutor in 4th grade.
If those options don’t work, or they don’t complete summer school, the student will repeat third grade.
Since the test had much higher stakes this year than normal, the TN Department of Education offered the opportunity for students to retake the test if they fell into the score category requiring retention.
Those retakes were set for this week.
Here’s how that went:
My district ran into tech issues today with the 3rd grade retest. Our kids sat for over an hour after trying unsuccessfully to log in.
This type of issue – a technical difficulty with accessing the test – happened in a number of districts across the state.
So, imagine being a third grader at the end of your school year. You find out you have to retake an 85 minute test you’ve already taken. If you don’t do well enough, you have to go to summer school and possibly repeat third grade.
No pressure at all, right?
Then you show up for your retake and you’re ready to go and you have to wait for an hour or two while some tech issues are worked out.
It doesn’t matter that you’ve waited and are now likely extra anxious. This is it.
This test counts. For a lot – especially in the life of a 9-year-old.
Of course, this isn’t the first time TNReady has had problems. In fact, just about every single year the test has been administered, there have been challenges.
This year, many districts did not receive the necessary scores in time to include them in student grades. Here’s how Clarksville-Montgomery County describes the situation:
CMCSS will not include the TCAP/EOC state standardized test results as part of students’ final grades this school year. In accordance with T.C.A. § 49-1-617 and District policy, students’ TCAP scores will not be included in their final spring semester grades if the scores are not received by the District at least five instructional days before the end of the academic year. CMCSS did not receive scores in time.
Although scores will not be included in semester grades, in accordance with state law,the third-grade ELA TCAP score, or retest score, is still being used to determine the pathways to fourth-grade promotion unless a student is exempt from third-grade retention. CMCSS received scores from the state last Friday afternoon and processed through the weekend. Families of students at-risk for retention began receiving communications last Sunday regarding the retest and next steps.
Here’s an update from Sumner County:
So, the scores don’t count for a student’s grades, but they can be used to determine whether or not a student needs to take another test in the last days of the academic year.
Not only are there recurring technical issues with TNReady, it is important to note what the test actually measures:
Nashville education blogger TC Weber takes a moment to talk about all that so-called “learning loss” going on and in the process, he teaches us a lesson.
Here’s some of what he has to say:
Yesterday I attended the Tennesseans for Student Success & TennesseeCAN webinar. The event was previewed as an opportunity to see what the Tennessee General Assembly would be tackling this upcoming session. On the panel were House Education Chairs Deborah Moody and Mark White, along with State Senator John Lundberg. Lundberg is the presumptive successor to former Senate Education Committee Chair Dolores Gresham, though there has been some chatter about the position falling to Senator Kelsey. joining them was SCORE Director of Policy and Government Relations, Aleah Guthrie.
I’m not sure what I expected, since I can’t cite a single instance of the three pre-mentioned organizations getting in a room together and producing anything memorable, but the conversation was fairly predictable. All three continually scream, “Crisis!” while conveniently ignoring the role they’ve played in shaping policy over the last decade. Today would be no different.
The prevailing theme of the entire session was “loss” – be it learning or students. To put it into perspective, had I been playing drink “learning loss” – taking a shot of whiskey every time I heard the phrase – I would have been hammered by the mid-point of the event. On the flip side, had I been playing drink “student gains”, I could have gotten behind the wheel and driven to Memphis with no worries.
It’s fascinating to me that in a state filled with proud conservatives, so many are willing to subscribe to a belief that children can’t learn without government intervention. The government can’t tell me to wear a mask, but a child is incapable of learning sans legislator involvement. No statewide mask mandates, but hell yea, bring on the state testing mandate.
The portrayal of nothing but losses is an inaccurate one. The lessons that kids are learning may not be the ones prescribed by policy experts and politicians, but I think they are worth acknowledging. We have long talked about the need for increased fluency in technology. Has there ever been a year that mirrored the growth of this year? We have children as young as five, navigating systems and receiving instruction better than half the state’s adult population. I would think that goes in the win column and is cause for celebration alone.
Not Wrong
TC is not wrong. At all. Kids ARE learning. Teachers ARE teaching. In fact, in many systems, teachers are teaching both online AND in-person. Just because school buildings might not be open, doesn’t mean learning isn’t happening or that teachers aren’t working their asses off to adapt to a new reality.
While Gov. Lee may not know how to lead, our Tennessee teachers are demonstrating they get the job done no matter what.
Also, here’s a bit more about SCORE and all the “work” they do for kids:
If lawmakers aren’t coming forward to raise teacher pay and direct more resources to the classroom, they can just take a seat. Teachers are getting it done with less and risking their lives because of COVID. Their governor cancelled a raise and their legislature thinks being 45th in school funding is the same as being adequate.
If there’s going to be hand-wringing over learning loss, then legislators need to start getting serious about funding Tennessee schools. Every single year. So far, there’s a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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Amelia Morrison Hipps is advocating the idea of giving School Boards taxing authority.
It’s a good idea and one which can certainly be handled in such a way as to build in accountability. For example, setting a maximum amount taxes can be raised before a public referendum is required.
Letting School Boards set policy and establish budgets WITHOUT also giving them the ability and responsibility to raise revenue creates tension between two governing bodies that should be working together to better communities.
Hipps writes:
In other words, the people held the school board members accountable for the whole kit-and-caboodle. In Tennessee, school board members can hide behind the shield of county commissioners when they “mismanage their finances” by saying, “We had no choice. They only gave us so much money, and we had to spend it on X instead of B like we said. The children needed it.”
I urge Tennessee’s leaders to be courageous and bold. Open up a true and honest dialogue about our schools’ funding mechanisms. A saying I hear a lot in Wilson County is, “He who holds the gold, makes the rules.”
It’s an idea that’s been discussed and debated before — but also one meriting more attention.
For more on Tennessee education policy and politics, follow us @TNEdReport
