The Tennessee Department of Education announced at a noon press conference on Thursday some changes to the state TNReady test that teachers, administrators and superintendents have been asking the state to make. Among the changes include rebidding the testing contract, refining the current Questar contract, revising timeline for online testing, and engaging more teachers.
These steps complement additional actions already in the works, including eliminating two TNReady end-of-course exams, eliminating the March stand-alone field test for the next two years, simplifying and streamlining test administration, bringing in a third party to perform an independent review of Questar’s technological capabilities, improving customer service, and engaging dozens of additional Tennessee teachers, content experts, and testing coordinators to look at every part of the state testing program.
Dale Lynch from the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents and J.C. Bowman from Professional Educators of Tennessee were in attendance at the announcement. Both praised the Tennessee Department of Education for taking proactive steps to address the issue. Mr. Bowman said, "Leadership collects input from those on the ground, makes the process better for all, and then tweaks the product as needed. We firmly believe that changes needed to be made, and we are pleased that Commissioner McQueen and her team heard our message and made the necessary changes to improve student assessment in Tennessee."
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said at the press conference, "Improvements are being made after ongoing conversations with teachers, parents, education leaders, and policymakers over the past several weeks and are aimed at addressing a number of areas of concern. Teachers, students and families deserve a testing process they can have confidence in, and we are doing everything possible to meet that responsibility. We are always committed to listening and improving, and we’ll continue to do just that.”
The multi-faceted changes announced Thursday will immediately improve the state assessment—TNReady—and establish a longer-term framework for success. The steps being taken to improve TNReady include:
Releasing a new Request for Proposals to identify the assessment vendor or vendors that can successfully administer the state test in 2019-20 and beyond. The RFP process will better ensure that students can take TNReady seamlessly and without disruption, said officials.
Amending the state’s current contract and relationship with Questar to improve the assessment experience in 2018-19
Adjusting the pace of the state’s transition to online testing
In May, a national study recognized Tennessee as the No. 1 state in the country for improvement in the quality of its academic standards, going from an “F” rating in 2007 to an “A” in 2017. TNReady is designed to measure those standards, and it has a variety of different types of questions to look for the depth of students’ knowledge.
Tennessee is one of less than 10 states that still has a paper test in middle school—and both state and district leaders recognize that the workforce of the 21st century is increasingly online. Officials want every student to have a positive testing experience, and to maximize the ability to have a seamless online administration. Accordingly, the state is adjusting the timeline to continue the transition to online but at a modified pace. For 2018-19:
Students in grades 3-8 will take TNReady on paper for math, English, and social studies.
Students in grades 3-4 will take their TNReady science test on paper, and students in grades 5-8 will take their science test online. Science is a field test in 2018-19 because the state is transitioning to new academic standards; therefore, the results will not count for students, teachers, or schools, nor will any public scores be released. This provides an option for all students to experience the online platform and do so in an environment that is low-risk for them.
Students in high school and those taking end-of-course exams will continue to test online.
Further, the department will improve paper administration, as well. In addition to having Tennessee teachers review all test questions, scripts, and test forms, the department is streamlining test logistics to have fewer versions of the test distributed across the state. This makes it easier on testing coordinators and proctors to administer, said officials. The state has also combined the answer document and test questions into one test booklet in lower grades so it is easier for students to take the test.
For more information on the additional TNReady improvements, visit the Tennessee Department of Education website.