Monday’s announcement that more than half of Tennessee’s third-graders failed to meet testing standards to advance to the fourth-grade is facing pointed criticism from Democrats and optimistic reflection from Republicans.
The Tennessee Department of Education says 60% of third-graders scored “below” or “approaching” proficiency on the English language arts (ELA) portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Students in both categories are at risk of retention under the state’s new Third-Grade Retention law if they’re not in an exempt category.
Democratic leaders responded Monday afternoon with strong criticism for Republicans who voted for the new law in 2021.
“Families of third graders across Tennessee are feeling the consequences of Republicans enacting a law that ignored evidence-based and data-driven recommendations. Instead, they used students as a pawn to enact their extreme agenda,” said Senate Democratic Caucus Leader London Lamar, D-Memphis. “Our third graders are so much more than a single test score. We should be investing in more innovative solutions like smaller classroom sizes and reading specialists, not more high-stakes testing.”
Senator Lamar echoed criticism from other prominent Democrats who feel the new law places too much pressure on a test.
Non-exempt students who fail to meet the ELA threshold do have the option of retaking the test along with enrolling in summer school and tutoring programs to qualify for the fourth-grade. Some students will additionally qualify for an appeal.
Democratic leaders feel the state should be looking for other solutions to improve reading.
“There are so many student interventions we could be supporting to improve reading comprehension. High-stakes testing, with the threat of failing third grade, is not one of them,” said Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis. “Important decisions about your child’s education should never be made based on a single test score. But the G.O.P. refused to listen to educators and passed their third-grade retention law anyway. Now 60% of third graders could be held back. No one benefits from this manufactured chaos.”
The testing data did contain some positive news for third-graders and Republican leaders focused on them.
The number of third-graders who met or exceeded expectations on the ELA portion of TCAP saw a more than 4 percent increase, the largest since Tennessee updated its ELA standards. Additionally, this year’s scores also had the largest percentage of third-graders scoring in the top category in over a decade.
“With today’s release, the increase to 40% of third graders being proficient in ELA is an exciting indicator that as a state we are moving in the right direction,” said Senate Education Chairman Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol. “However, we know we have more, hard work ahead to keep building upon this growth and accelerating student achievement.”
“Tennessee continues to work hard to achieve high standards and achievement for our students,” said House Education Administration Chairman Mark White, R-Memphis. “I want to thank all our Tennessee teachers for their work in creating this success for our students!”
Non-partisan organizations also weighed in on the TCAP scores, including education advocacy and research institution the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE).
SCORE plans to analyze the full TCAP data when it’s unveiled in June, but the organization says the third-grade ELA results released this week show Tennessee’s work to improve literacy has made an impact.
“Today’s release of initial 3rd grade TCAP data shows positive and promising improvements in early literacy with 40% of 3rd graders on grade level, the highest in over a decade,” said SCORE. “TN has invested heavily in early literacy supports and resources over the past several years. We’re pleased to see outcomes, and we know more is needed to ensure all students are on grade level in reading.”
