Tennessee will make it easier for school districts to access and purchase the technology necessary to take TNReady tests starting in the 2019-20 school year.
Gov. Bill Haslam announced the changes on Wednesday after a statewide listening tour on how to improve TNReady, the state's standardized test for public school students. The technology upgrades are among the items the state is targeting to fix a flawed test administration over the last several years.
Further changes identified in the 2019-20 school year include a request that the state's new test company partner with Tennessee businesses and universities to create test materials and score tests.
“I am grateful to educators from all across the state who actively participated in the TNReady listening tour discussions and submitted real solutions on how to improve the delivery of future assessments," Haslam said in statement. "We must get this right, and the changes we are implementing based on educator feedback will help us get there.”
The changes follow along with numerous other fixes in place this school year, including practice runs to ensure the test is working correctly, more overall support and resources for educators and improved training on the platform for teachers.
Haslam's focus to make technology easier for districts to access follows complaints heard statewide about internet and computer resources available to teachers.
Although it is unclear what type of technology the program will provide, the state will use its Tennessee Student Technology Enrichment Program to identify companies that can provide "high-quality devices" at competitive rates, according to a document provided by the state describing the future changes.
Districts will be able to purchase, finance or lease the equipment, according to the document.
Under the lease option, districts will be able to rent technology for a period of three years and the state estimates that could reduce the total cost of ownership by as much as 40 percent.
Other changes in place
Although TNReady has been plagued with issues, Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has put into place fixes she hopes will improve the tests.
Districts have begun to get test documents back faster and there are fewer parts to the test overall. The state is using less paper on the paper version.
The state also has full-time staff to help districts with any issues that pop up.
And recent changes also include teachers from across the Tennessee appointed to provide feedback to the state education department as it seeks to improve TNReady.
Haslam also wants other improvements in the 2019-20 school year, through finding a new vendor that can allow online access to test results as soon as they are available. And he wants to target a test company that can provide optional tests for districts that mirror what is required on TNReady.
Haslam takes matters into his own hands
Haslam announced his listening tour in late August to hear from teachers, parents and students on how to improve the test that is entering its fourth year.
So far, the Tennessee Department of Education and its vendors have been unable to administer TNReady without some sort of issue, which has eroded trust in the exam among teachers, parents and state lawmakers. TNReady has become a frequent theme among the Republican and Democratic nominees for governor.
Both Haslam and McQueen have said they are committed to moving the state fully to online testing.
But getting there hasn't been easy.
The first year of the state's test in spring 2016, Measurement Inc., the state's first vendor, failed to deliver online testing. The company then was only able to deliver paper tests to high school students during the state's testing window.
In its second year, after the state switched to Questar Assessment, a small number of tests were graded incorrectly and test scores were returned to districts late.
And in the 2017-18 school year, widespread issues stemming from Questar making an unauthorized change caused a slowdown in online testing for high school students. The issue was first reported as a possible "deliberate attack" to Questar's systems.
Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.