Reports this morning suggest that Tennessee testing vendor Pearson experienced technical difficulties and TNReady testing didn’t start or couldn’t happen in some school districts.
Image from Tweets by David Carroll and TNHoller
And another one:
TNReady only experiences problems every single year.
Remember when we were told a dump truck had knocked out a fiber line and that ended testing?
And then remember when it turned out it WASN’T a dump truck, but problems with the testing vendor?
Pretty funny – unless you were the kids taking the tests or the teachers tasked with administering them or the teachers, principals, and schools who are graded and evaluated by the flawed (and often not working) tests.
Oh, and remember how the General Assembly passed a ridiculous third grade retention law based on a test that should better be described as TN-NEVEREADY?
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.
This is the type of cruel and unusual punishment that passes for education policy in Tennessee.
And the worst part is, taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars to fund this insanity.
It seems the State Board of Education is aware of the failures of the policy and members are making some attempts to improve it or at least lessen the negative impacts.
“Failing a fourth-grader is not the answer,” said former fourth-grade teacher and current state Board of Education representative Krissi McInturff during the February meeting. While McInturff — who represents Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District on the board — voiced support for the intention of the law, she also listed negative effects associated with retaining students, including academic struggles, stress, increased dropout rates among students who have been retained and emotional impact.
Lawmakers are also considering tweaks to the law following the first year of implementation.
Other states that have implemented similar laws have run into problems. Michigan ultimately repealed the retention element of the law and instead focused attention on providing support for reading in grades K-3.
What’s interesting is to see other states that have tried this sort of law – and then backed down.
The Education Reportnotes that Michigan has just repealed its third-grade retention law after seven years. Why? Because it doesn’t work!
Michigan’s legislature recently sent third grade retention repeal to the Governor.
Here’s how lawmakers explained that decision:
“Michigan isn’t the first state to try this,” Koleszar said. “We’ve seen it in other states and there’s zero data from any other states that suggests retention is the way to go. We’ve got enough data to know it’s not working.”
Here’s what else is interesting about the Michigan repeal:
“Let’s use that money for reading intervention specialists, for literacy coaches, after school programs, summer school programs, to tackle the issue that way, instead of being reactive and just holding them back in a punitive and punishing way,” said Rep. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights.
The bill passed Tuesday repeals the retention aspect of the law, but retains other elements such as staffing recommendations, reading intervention services, and the use of evidence-based curricula and instructional material.
Hello? Tennessee??
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Yet another group has added its voice to those calling on the Tennessee General Assembly to amend the state’s third grade retention law that goes into effect this year.
Now, the Tennessee Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has issued a statement calling for change – specifically, to give local districts more control and to include multiple measures in any retention decision.
Here’s the full statement:
The Tennessee PTA works to ensure that all students can be successful. The current third grade retention law, while working to ensure that students are capable of meeting standards, creates an environment where a singular test (i.e. TCAP or TNReady), and not a student’s tracked growth or potentially their full capabilities, determines their educational outcomes and progress in school. We believe that the exceptions to retention set forth in the current legislation do not meet the full spectrum of needs a student might present or provide enough flexibility to prevent a student who is capable from being retained.
The Tennessee PTA Board of Directors believes that legislation regarding student retention should work to meet the needs, skills, and abilities of each student and must be based on multiple measures including student growth and achievement. The board of directors also believes that this legislation should return the ability for students, parents, teachers, and schools to make decisions for each student on an individual basis. The board of directors deems that local education agencies are best suited to craft individual retention policies that promote the success of their students. The Tennessee PTA Board of Directors asks that the third grade retention legislation be amended to ensure that decisions are made individually and based on a student’s capabilities, and not as a collective in order to ensure the success of every student.
Tennessee PTA and our board of directors will continue to focus on our mission: To make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.
For more on Tennessee education politics and policy, follow @TNEdReport
According to NPEF’s analysis, as many as 4000 MNPS third graders may be forced to repeat that grade if the law remains unchanged during this legislative session.
More on what to expect from the legislature this year here.
Here’s a look at how they break down the potential impact:
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
The Knox County School Board has joined a number of districts across the state calling on lawmakers to make changes to the state’s new third grade retention law.
The Knoxville News-Sentinelnotes that as written, the law could mean about 2700 third grade students in Knox County will be held back this year – unless they undergo summer tutoring and/or remediation during the 2023-24 school year.
A state law that goes into effect this year requires that students not testing at “met expectations” – reading at grade level – according to TNReady results, must be retained or complete a summer remediation program.
An article in the Maryville Daily Times explains what this might mean in practice.
The law applies to students who score at the “below expectations” or “approaching expectations” performance levels on the TCAP exam. Statewide, that could mean two-thirds of third graders, Winstead explained. However, Maryville’s third grade ELA performance last spring was ranked sixth in the state, with 60% meeting or exceeding expectations.
That left 40%, 174 children, potentially affected if the law had been in place. However, with exemptions for new English learners, students with disabilities that affect reading and previously retained students, the number drops to 122.
Across the state, districts are asking policymakers to tweak the law to give them flexibility.
It should be noted that the state has provided zero additional funding to districts to support the required remediation.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Nashville education blogger TC Weber takes a look at a recent Comptroller’s report on literacy in the state and finds some reason for encouragement. There’s a bit of confusion, too, in terms of whether or not the growth reflected in the results shared will translate into better overall reading scores.
The issue is particularly salient this year, as a new law takes effect requiring retention for any third grader who fails to meet state benchmarks in reading.
Here’s more from Weber on the Comptroller’s report:
A recently released report from the Tennessee Comptroller’s office shows that Tennessee K-3 students are making positive, albeit slight, growth in acquiring reading skills. Those conclusions were drawn from state-mandated K-3 universal reading screeners (URS), which all school districts are required to administer as part of legislation passed in 2021 during a Special Session of the General Assembly on education.
Based on graphs included in the Comptrollers report, third-grade students saw the most movement, with students starting at 43 percent in the Fall of 2021, growing to 45 percent in the Winter, and then achieving a Spring 2022 score of 46 percent.
One middle Tennessee mom says she was devastated when she learned of Tennessee’s new third grade retention law that goes into effect this year. The law requires that any third-grade student who scores at “below expectations” or “approaching expectations” on the state’s TNReady test in reading be held back unless they complete summer school and possibly enroll in a tutoring program during the school year.
Nearly 70% of all Tennessee third grade students score at that level on TNReady in any given year. In other words, even if a majority of them complete the summer program and participate in tutoring, a significant portion of third grade students will be forced to repeat third grade in 2023.
One day and one test could change the life of Anna Sturm’s son.
“I was devastated when I read it,” she said. “As a mother, it was such a disheartening thing to read that this is going to be something that could impact my child and thousands and thousands of children.”
The news report also notes that the Murfreesboro City Schools have crafted a resolution asking the state to reconsider the legislation and make changes when they return to session in January.
That’s something the bill’s sponsor says he may be open to – though he was vague on what those changes may look like:
It’s worth noting, too, that the policy is based on a single test taken on a single day – and it’s a test that has not exactly been reliable in recent years:
The legislature appropriated no additional funds to help schools support third grade students nor are there funds available for the necessary summer reading and school year tutoring programs mandated by the law.
Instead, it seems legislators just passed a law and hoped that change would magically happen.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
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So, the General Assembly has passed a bill essentially creating mandatory retention for third grade students who fail to meet certain benchmarks on TNReady tests.
Here’s the key text from HB 7004, that passed overwhelmingly in both chambers:
(1) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, a student in the third grade shall not be promoted to the next grade level unless the student is determined to be proficient in English language arts (ELA) based on the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “on track” or “mastered” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) test.
The bill outlines a series of potential ways a student may ultimately be promoted even if they fall into this category. Attending a summer “mini-camp,” for example.
But, as Senator Jeff Yarbro points out, 62% of third graders currently fall into the category where retention is the default action. And, students who are retained at this age end up more likely to not complete school or graduate from high school. There’s definitely mixed data on the benefits and drawbacks to retention.
There’s a lot to read in that article by Paul Thomas, but here are some key points regarding third grade retention:
But Mississippi has taken the concept further than others, with a retention rate higher than any other state. In 2018–19, according to state department of education reports, 8 percent of all Mississippi K–3 students were held back (up from 6.6 percent the prior year). This implies that over the four grades, as many as 32 percent of all Mississippi students are held back; a more reasonable estimate is closer to 20 to 25 percent, allowing for some to be held back twice. (Mississippi’s Department of Education does not report how many students are retained more than once.)
Thomas adds:
This last concern means that significant numbers of students in states with 3rd-grade retention based on reading achievement and test scores are biologically 5th-graders being held to 4th-grade proficiency levels. Grade retention is not only correlated with many negative outcomes (dropping out, for example), but also likely associated with “false positives” on testing; as well, most states seeing bumps in 4th-grade test scores also show that those gains disappear by middle and high school.
So, we’ve adopted as the official policy of the state of Tennessee a policy that Mississippi used to create a mirage of educational improvement while changing precious little in terms of actual investment in kids.
It seems Tennessee policymakers are once again looking for some sort of “fastest improving” press release instead of looking for meaningful policy change.
Oh, and here’s another interesting note. The test being used to determine retention is the TNReady test. Yes, that one. Yes, THAT one.
While the tests were ultimately suspended last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are currently envisioned as being delivered on pencil-and-paper, the goal is to return to online testing. However, that return is fraught with potential problems. Not least of which is the fact that our state has had some . . . uh, trouble, with administering an online test.
Here’s how one national expert described Tennessee’s experience with online testing:
“I’m not aware of a state that has had a more troubled transition” to online testing, said Douglas A. Levin of the consulting group EdTech Strategies.
Of course, those third graders also need to watch out for hackers and dump trucks, because we all know those two things can really foul up a test!
Here’s Sen. Yarbro explaining the problems with this bill:
"We are creating a high stakes test for 8-year-olds."
"We are extending a 6 week period for every district & we are not sending anywhere near the resources to pay for it."
