Tennessee praised for raising its expectations
Tennessee not only has closed the gap in its methodology for reporting student learning compared to the rest of the nation but also set some of the highest education requirements among all states, according to a set of national reports released recently.
Furthermore, through all the changes, Tennessee has raised student learning.
The reports by Achieve and Education Next, two national reports focused on state accountability, place Tennessee in the spotlight as one of the models across the country for improvements.
For its work, Tennessee received an “A” on the Education Next report, compiled by Havard University, up from an “F” in 2009.
“These two reports go hand-in-hand,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen. “They show us that as we’ve raised expectations over several years and moved to a better test during this same period.”
In the Achieve report, the state showed large gaps in what it reported on its statewide assessment versus student achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national standardized test.
Tennessee has cut those gaps since moving to the TNReady test, with all students able to be assessed for the first time in 2017. Tennessee is one of the most improved in this measure, the report shows.
When the state made the switch to TNReady, McQueen touted it as aligning closely to what students should know on the ACT and NAEP tests.
The Education Next report also highlights the work Tennessee has done on its education standards, which are requirements for what students should know in a given grade.
Tennessee lawmakers voted for the state to repeal and replace the Common Core State Standards in 2015. The state has since adopted stronger education requirements, the report says.
The changes propelled the state to the top of the Education Next list of states that have improved rigor in its requirements of students.
“Tennessee has been touted for its faithful implementation of higher standards even through the state’s revision of the Common Core State Standards, and it has also experienced both rising standards and moderately improved student performance over the past eight years,” the report says. “Although no firm conclusions can be drawn from any one state’s results, neither should the data presented here be treated as a signal that the campaign for higher standards is a failure.”
McQueen said the state’s students are growing to meet the high expectations.
“Both of those [reports] speak to the tremendous amount of hard work and hard decisions that have been made by leaders and teachers across the state,” McQueen said. “These reports also underscore that Tennessee must keep investing in our educators, support strong implementation of the standards along with an aligned assessment, focus on growth as part of a robust accountability model, and put students at the center of every decision.”