KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Under Tennessee law, some third-graders who don't meet expectations on a statewide language arts exam could be held back if they fail to go through extra pathways to the next grade. House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R - Crossville) said the law is meant to be a form of intervention, instead of retention.
He spoke with WBIR after a report was published about some East Tennessee families struggling with the new law. In it, two mothers spoke about the mental distress the law caused their children, who did not meet expectations on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program exam. The mothers said their children excelled in areas outside of testing but would need to go through additional pathways to continue onto the fourth grade.
"It's not a pass or fail. It's about early intervention," said Sexton. "There's no automatic retention. It's more about what resources, or what intervention, would be available for that student."
The Tennessee Department of Education said if third-graders don't meet expectations on the exam, they have options to continue onto the fourth grade. Students approaching expectations can go through state tutoring or retake the test, or their families can appeal the score. Students below expectations can retake the exam, or otherwise go through summer camp and undergo tutoring in the fourth grade.
"It's about trying to figure out where they are in the ability to comprehend English in the third grade," said Sexton. "The (final) grade is not comprehensive of what they comprehended throughout the third grade. The end-of-the-year test and the TCAP kind of takes all that in."
The English Language Arts of the TCAP exam has 52 questions and determines whether students are "proficient," "approaching expectations" or "below expectations." Students need to get 32 questions correct to score at least proficient on the test. It does not matter if students achieve A or B grades — if they aren't proficient on the test, they need to go through the extra pathways.
One Cumberland County mother said students are not given enough time from when they receive their initial scores to when they need to decide whether to retake the test.
"That's the determination by the local board. The school system, the superintendent, the director of schools are the person who handles all the TCAP testing," said Sexton. "I think some school systems give them a number. There's parents who I've talked to that's got a number."
He said all TCAP questions are approved by third-grade teachers across Tennessee. He also said the test was not meant to make students distressed or put pressure on families.
"TCAP is not based on, to hold someone back or not, and so I think the parents put that pressure out there thinking that they don't get a certain score, they're automatically held back," said Sexton.