Students will take a new assessment in Tennessee this school year
JACKSON, Tenn. — Educators and political leaders came together Monday to talk student success after graduation. “The big picture in Tennessee is that students are struggling in the years right after high school,” Dr. Candice McQueen,Tennessee Commissioner of Education said. More than 70,000 students enter the public school system across the state each year. Of graduates in 2007, about 3,500 of those graduated from college in three years following their high school graduation. Economic development experts said those numbers were their motivation. “When we first started the REDI program in 2010, 87% of our students were taking remedial courses, and that showed us quickly we had some work to do,” Regional Economic Development Initiative Director, Lisa Hankins said. The way students have been assessed at the end of their school year has not changed since the 1980’s. “Education goes hand in hand with economic development. If we’re going to have the jobs in our states, we have to have an educated workforce,” Representative Jimmy Eldridge (R) Jackson explained. Leaders hope the new state test, known as TNReady, which replaces the TCAP, will help that preparation. “These are new and improved parts of the TCAP in Math and English Language Arts,” Dr. McQueen said. The two-part test is electronic, and requires students to write in answers instead of multiple choice. The second part includes an essay. “We see the students who aren’t prepared when they go off to college, so it’s important we increase the rigor of these tests,” Hankins said. Most students will take their assessment in February. For more information about the test and some sample questions, we have included the link on the “Seen On 7” section.
