Is Tennessee ready for TNReady? Five things to know about the state’s new standardized test

This spring marks the last time Tennessee students will take the Tennesssee Comprehensive Assessment Program, fondly known as TCAP tests. Beginning next school year, the state’s standardized exam will be “TNReady,” a test being developed by North Carolina-based Measurement Inc.

Officials with the Tennessee Department of Education say the new assessment will be aligned with Tennessee classroom standards — whatever those end up being. But whether the Tennessee General Assembly decides to keep or replace the Common Core State Standards, the new test will roll out in only 10 months, when high school students on block schedules sit down for exams in November.

Here’s what we know so far about the new testing program:

1) It can be administered online or by paper. Guidelines are being drafted about which districts will use an online version of the test, and which will use paper and pencil, according to Emily Freitag, assistant commissioner of curriculum and instruction, who last week updated a joint meeting of the State Board of Education and Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Several states already have moved their testing online, and Tennessee was supposed to do the same this year by administering the PARCC test, an online Common Core-aligned test with open-ended questions. However, the legislature nixed the transition last spring in a pushback to Common Core, and instead mandated Tennessee students take the multiple-choice TCAP another year. Although districts have been preparing for an online test via PARCC, concerns remain that many districts, especially in rural areas, don’t have the technology to administer it.

2) It’s “adaptable” to new standards. A common complaint about TCAP has been that it doesn’t align with the state’s new standards, which were phased in from 2010 to 2014. A big selling point of the new test is that it finally can assess if students are meeting those standards.

However, whether those standards for math and English remain in place is still up for debate – literally. The Common Core State Standards are under review, and the legislature is considering a bill that would repeal them. If that happens, there won’t be much time for tentmakers to go back to the drawing board. Nakia Towns, assistant commissioner for data and research, assured last week’s joint session that the new test will adapt to whatever standards Tennessee ends up with. “We recognize that we are in a standards review process,” Towns said. “TNReady is going to give us the flexibility to align with standards, whatever those may be at the end of that process.”

3) The writing test will become part of the English/language arts test. This week, Tennessee students sat down for their TCAP writing tests for the last time — kind of. TNReady will have a separate written component, but the score will be part of students’ English/language arts score, not separate. The writing-intensive part of TNReady will be taken in February, as the writing test is currently done. The rest of the English assessment will be administered at the end of the year.

4) All sections of TNReady will involve writing. Gone are the days of all-multiple choice tests. Even the math TNReady will require students to explain some of their answers in writing. This could help students, since they now will be able to receive partial credit for showing their work in math. They also will have to rely less on calculators during the math assessment. The English exam will have several open-ended questions, in addition to the writing section.

5) There will be math assessments for both traditional high school math — Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II — and integrated math. Last month, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools announced that it will join four other Tennessee districts teaching integrated math, which teaches the same concepts as geometry and algebra, but integrates them across three years. A TCAP for integrated math doesn’t exist, and the move to have a statewide assessment for integrated math might encourage more districts to join in that course of study.

For more background on Measurement Inc., the company developing the test, read our past coverage.

Did we answer your questions about the state’s new testing tool? Are you ready for TNReady, or do you have reservations? Share your comments below.