“Halting” TNReady tests are not the answer, local superintendent says

HAYWOOD COUNTY, Tenn. — Results from last years TNReady standardized tests are starting to trickle in.

After a host of problems with the tests last year, some school leaders think the state should scrap them this year.

The school year has just begun, but TNReady standardized tests are already causing problems for some school leaders.

“We had quite a few issues with testing in the spring,” Haywood County Schools Superintendent Joey Hassell said.

Hassell said both Shelby County Schools and Metro Nashville public schools wrote letters to governor Haslam, asking to pause the tests until they can be issued more reliably.

“It’s caused a lot of folks to start this debate in our state,” Hassell said.

Hassell says glitches with the online system caused many interruptions during the testing period last spring.

“We just need to ensure our assessments work when we need them to work,” he said.

Hassell says standardized tests benefits students as well as administrators, and halting the process is not the answer.

“It’s a good measure of what our students are learning and how they’re growing,” he said.

Haywood High School principal Latonya Jackson says her school was prepared and had the proper tools.

She says where the state fell short was out of her control.

“We had to break between testing due to some of the difficulties from the state end,” Jackson said.

Jackson says she is hoping for smooth sailing with the TNReady this year.

“We need an assessment that works with us, and works every time,” she said.

Superintendent Hassell said most of the problems last spring came from the online versions on the TNReady tests.

Only high school students will be required to take the TNReady test online again this year.