Director of schools comments on TCAP scores

Tennessee Department of Education has released the 2022-23 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program state-level results, demonstrating increased academic proficiency for students across all tested subjects and grades.

These statewide results include both spring 2023 and fall 2022 end-of-course exams in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, and data is presented by subject, grade, and student group.

“Tennessee’s strategic education investments have resulted in encouraging gains for students across every subject and grade, including strong reading improvements,” said Gov. Bill Lee. “As we continue our work to prepare students for success in the classroom and beyond, Tennessee remains committed to supporting teachers and empowering families with multiple pathways to achievement so every student can thrive.”

This news is of little comfort to the parents of third-grade students who could be held back because of the 2021 law requiring students to do well on their TCAP, attend summer school, or repeat third grade.

About 60 percent of Tennessee third-graders fell into this category in the 2022-2023 school year. Many of these students maintained high marks throughout the school year and only missed the TCAP required score by a few points.

When asked how this affects White County third-grade students, Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said he is not happy when Nashville or Washington D.C. tell White County how their schools must be run.  He understands the need for children to read at or above standard levels but also knows one test cannot accurately assess a student. The county school system is bound by state law, and the law has affected school systems statewide. Studies show students not reading to grade level by third grade will likely continue to fall behind their classmates. State lawmakers must amend or strike down the law, TCA 49-6-3115, for any changes to occur.

Some highlights from the 2022-2023 TCAP, according to the governor’s office:

• Statewide, students’ English language arts (ELA) scores increased by 1.6 percent over last year and 8.3 percent over the 2020-2021 school year.
• Statewide, students improved by 3.2 percent over last year’s math scores and 8.1 percent over the 2020-2021 school year.
• Statewide, students’ science scores increased by 3.4 percent over last year and 4.9 percent over 2020-2021.
• Statewide, social studies showed the least improvement over the last year at just 0.4 percent but was 5.6 percent higher than 2020-2021.

Dronebarger pointed out that White County schools and students generally perform near the top in the state. Parents may access the TCAP Family Portal at https://familyreport.tnedu.gov/login to help families and students understand their individual TCAP results.