Fri
Jul 30 2010
03:39 pm
Raising the bar for students in TN
By: Indya

While the immediate test results are daunting, this is ultimately very good news for Tennessee's future.

Indya

From SCORE:

Kudos to the State Board of Education, which met TODAY to approve new student proficiency definitions that are on par with the rest of the country. Work ahead is sobering (see below), but we're finally being honest with our kids.

More than half of TN students fail state tests under new scores

(link...)

The majority of Tennessee public school students didnt pass state standardized test this year, the end result of a tougher curriculum, harder exams and higher cut scores for passing grades.

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Tamara Shepherd's picture

"Advanced" category?

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Fri, 2010/07/30 - 7:26pm.

Thanks, Indya. Those results are about what we expected, huh?

Wouldn't this revised scale also reduce the percentage of students scoring "advanced," though?

This article, like so many I read before this year's test results were known, doesn't speak to effects at the upper end of the performance spectrum.

Tamara Shepherd's picture

Turnaround time?

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Sat, 2010/07/31 - 9:16am.

Concerning Lola Alapo's story on this same subject today, she writes:

"The state education board Friday set new proficiency levels or 'cut scores.' The scores are being applied to this year's Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP, exams, the first to reflect more rigorous standards implemented by the state."

And:

"Parents will begin receiving students' TCAP results in October or November."

I'm not understanding why if the new standard was approved Friday and it's being applied now to students' tests taken last April, students (and parents) are having to wait until October or November to see test results?

In the past, there has been a time or two that students (and parents) didn't get test results back until the first week of the new school year, in August, but generally we had them in hand before the close of the school year in which students actually took the tests, in late May.

Should we now expect such lengthy delays in results every school year or is this delay attributable only to implementation of the new standard this year?

(link...)

Indya's picture

delay is temporary

Submitted by Indya on Sat, 2010/07/31 - 2:32pm.

Tamara,

The delay in getting test results is due to implementing the new higher standards. It should only be a one year problem.

To answer your earlier question, the number of kids scoring advanced will likely drop considerably too. The bar has been raised at all levels.

Formerly there were 3 categories: Advanced, Proficient and Below Proficient. Now there are 4: Advanced, Proficient, Basic and Below Basic. Anyone scoring proficient or higher should have mastered the content and skills of a particular course or grade level and be well-equipped to move on to the next one.

Our oldest took TCAPs for the first time this past Spring, so I won't have any previous results to compare with personally, but I expect the changes will be evident and a little alarming to some. SCORE has some good advice for when those school and student results become available:

1. Don't be discouraged
2. Seek help from teachers and other school people
3. Know the facts (i.e. your child hasn't lost ground, but the bar has been raised; raising expectations is a good thing and will help our children and our collective futures.

Hope this helps and thanks for getting the word out about this good, but complex, news.

Indya

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