Tennessee will release its first standardized test scores of the TNReady era in November, and will use a redesigned reporting format aimed at showing whether each student is on target, state officials said Tuesday.
The State Department of Education is releasing the scores months later than usual under the transition to its new assessment and will only include data for high school students. Tests were canceled last spring for grades 3-8 following TNReady’s failed online debut and subsequent printing delays that led to the test maker’s firing.
While state officials are attempting to rebuild trust in Tennessee’s school accountability system following TNReady’s rocky start, they say the redesigned report will help students, parents and educators better understand strengths, weaknesses and next steps for improvement.
The design is based on four levels of performance — mastered, on track, approaching, and below — that identify end-of-course knowledge and skills as defined by Tennessee’s current academic standards for math, English and U.S. history. Parents and families also will be able to compare a student’s performance with school, district and state averages.
The new report was developed over the course of a year with input from parents and educators across Tennessee. Here’s what it looks like:
This was the first year that Tennessee’s high school students took standardized tests based on the state’s current Common Core standards for math and English, which will be replaced in the fall of 2017 with revised standards approved earlier this year by the State Board of Education.
Casting both sets of standards as a higher bar, state leaders have sought to prepare families and educators to expect lower scores initially under TNReady than on past TCAP assessments. The new report, they say, is a way to better navigate the scores and what they mean.
“It is important for families and educators, as well as school and district leaders, to have an accurate understanding of how their students are growing and learning each year,” Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said in a press release. “The information in the new family reports provides parents with another perspective to help them engage in meaningful conversations about their student’s education … and to advocate for increased support and opportunities.”
The state usually releases its test scores during the summer in time for families and educators to use the data before a new school year begins. But this year’s scores were delayed because the scoring process is more extensive under TNReady, which emphasizes critical thinking skills over rote memorization. State leaders say next year’s results for high school families will arrive early next summer.
While full reports for students in grades 3-8 won’t be available this year, schools will receive some information for those students based on raw scores, to which families can request access. The state plans to issue revised family reports next fall for those students in math and English.
Because social studies will be a field test this year in grades 3-8, the subject will not generate score reports next fall. As for science, students in all grades will receive updated reports in 2018-19 under new standards and a new assessment for that subject.
You can see the state’s new parent guide to TNReady here. The state also will launch a new online resource this fall designed to help parents and families of high school students further understand the reports.