The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is promoting tools for families and educators to use to help prepare students for the 2023 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP).
The state is administering the annual test to students in grades 3-8 from April 17 through May 5. The purpose of the assessments is to track student progress and understand areas of curriculum where students struggle, allowing educators to use that feedback to enhance their teaching for future classes.
“The TCAP assessment is an essential measure to give parents and educators a big-picture perspective about how their student is progressing, including a closer look at each student’s strengths and growth opportunities,” said Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Parents are a child’s first teacher, and the data gained from this test empowers all those in a student’s life to learn how to set them up for success.”
Parents have various tools at their fingertips to help their child prepare for the TCAP, including free at-home reading resources such as decodable books and the Best For All Central website.
Beginning this school year, if a 3rd grade student scores below proficiency on the ELA section of the TCAP, that student is eligible to receive additional learning supports to ensure they get back on track with state standards and ready to progress to the next grade level. These additional supports include summer school and high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring.
“Teachers across our great state have worked hard all year to ensure their students have mastered rigorous state standards,” said Tyler Salyer, Principal of West Collierville Middle School. “As students begin state testing, this is a great time to let your child know how proud you are of how much they’ve grown this school year!”
Tennessee has been utilizing the TCAP since 1988 in order to track student progress, build transparency within academic progress and highlight exemplary districts and learning models, among other goals.
