Local schools weigh in after state nixes TNReady testing vendor

JACKSON, Tenn.– After making several calls Wednesday morning to school districts across West Tennessee, it is clear the Tennessee Department of Education wasn’t so ready to administer the TNReady test across the state, causing the department to cut ties with the testing vendor Measurement Inc.

“Effective immediately, the department is terminating its contract with Measurement Incorporated,” Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said.

Because more than 2 million TNReady testing documents have yet to be shipped by the vendor, Measurement Inc., the state is cutting ties with the vendor who has failed the state one too many times after failing to administer the TNReady test online in February.

After making calls to a number West Tennessee school districts it is clear testing isn’t going as planned.

“On the elementary side, it’s been a little bit different story,” said Henderson Co. Schools Testing Coordinator Tim Rodgers. “We have certainly been — frustrated may not be exactly the right word. It’s probably a little bit more than that.”

Here in Madison County, high school students are testing and will finished this week, but the district hasn’t received any tests for grades 3 through 8 but only answer sheets.

Commissioner Candice McQueen announced Wednesday afternoon that the state will suspend grade 3-8 testing because schools don’t have testing materials, which the vendor had more than 11 weeks to prepare and deliver.

“100 percent of districts are still waiting on some grade 3-8 materials to arrive, and few districts have complete sets of tests for any grade or subject,” Commissioner McQueen said. “MI has provided limited and vague information about the estimated delivery times for the remaining grade 3-8 materials.”

So far, the state has paid a little more than a million dollars of their $108 million contract with Measurement Inc. The commissioner says they are working through the terms of that agreement and looking forward to moving on.

“The department is currently working with the state’s Central Procurement Office to expedite the selection of a vendor for both the scoring of this year’s high school assessment and the development of next year’s test,” McQueen said.

Humboldt, Henderson, Hardin, Haywood and Weakley counties all said they hadn’t received all, if any, testing materials for grades 3-8. Districts that did receive all testing materials will still have the option to test their students, according to the commissioner.

The commissioner also announced high school testing will continue as planned and be scored normally with results released in the fall. However, these test results will not affect teacher evaluations.

For teachers who do have students taking the TNReady test, that data will only be used if it helps the teacher.