Representative Cochran’s legislation removes every end of course assessment high school students take but science and instead requires students to take a postsecondary readiness assessment like the ACT in math and English language arts each year in grades 9-11.

Representative Cochran’s amendment would reduce elementary and middle school testing by continuing to require annual state ELA and math assessments but only requiring students to take science tests once in grades 3-5 and once in grades 6-8.  Additionally, middle school students would only have to take state social studies assessments once, instead of each year.

End-of-course exams for public high school students in Tennessee will now have less of an impact on students’ final grades, according to state education leaders.