KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Hundreds of fourth graders in Knox County have a challenge ahead of them. This group of students did not pass their third-grade TCAP test.
Those students needed summer school or tutoring. In some cases, they needed both so they could get into the fourth grade, according to Keith Wilson, KCS' assistant superintendent of academics. Now that they've advanced though, they're facing a new test. This law requires them to demonstrate proficiency in order to move forward.
"That could include summer learning camps, or it could include year-long tutoring in the following school year, and for some students that included both," Wilson said. "The second part of that law is that as a result of their participation, they are expected to demonstrate a level of proficiency this year in order to be promoted on into the fifth grade."
Wilson said 903 students now need to get to the fifth grade. There are a couple of ways they could do that.
"One of those is to meet expectations or be proficient on the TCAP this year," Wilson said. "The other was a new, just recently released growth metric that the state approved — I think it was Feb. 16. And that takes into account, really, each individual student's performance."
Wilson said last year, they had record achievement in their third-grade scores. They scored a little more than 43% of students who at least met expectations on the test, which was around 5% more than the previous year.
Last year was one of their biggest changes. They took the district and divided it into five geographic regions. KCS said it helped them create smaller teams of content support, and Wilson said the district has also been adopting new ways to help students succeed
"We made some shifts in terms of curriculum, in our math and ELA adoptions over the last three or four years, and it's really about ensuring that teachers have a comprehensive set of materials," Wilson said. "My football analogy is, you know, at the end of the day blocking and tackling is what makes the game right. And I do think that's what good instruction is about. It's about consistency. It's about knowing where your students are and being responsive, as responsive as you can be. "