TEST SCORES DECLINE
TCAP results a window into learning loss from tumultuous year
Shelby County Schools students appear to have suffered greater learning losses in math than in reading, especially among younger students, recently released state testing results show.
The state’s largest district, whose students typically score below the state testing averages, saw declines across almost all grades and content areas during the pandemic, according to test results supplied by SCS.
After more than a year of disruptions to learning, only 29% of Tennessee students are on grade-level in English language arts, and even fewer — 25% —
are on grade-level in math. Available data is not readily comparable, but scores released by SCS are substantially lower than these state averages across all grade bands.
The statewide data, released last week, showed that declines weren’t limited to elementary students who many were most concerned about while schools were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
SCS had a 93.5% in-person participation rate for the tests, above the state’s 80% requirement. The scores reflect student achievement in grades 3-8 and 9-12 across both traditional and charter schools.
A robust look at learning loss and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted student achievement will take much more than just one set of testing results, leaders have said. At a high level, the results appear to confirm the district’s first look at learning loss shared last fall, which also concluded greater losses in math compared to reading.
Last year, representatives for all of Shelby County’s school districts petitioned the state to cancel testing before the school year began, explaining that “nothing is likely to be standardized” about the first pandemic school year. Instead of canceling the tests, the state determined that districts would be “held harmless” for the results.
The most recent state testing data is from the 2018-19 school year. Because most school buildings in the state were closed in spring 2020, Tennessee canceled state testing for the 2019-20 school year.
The district plans to use the test scores in conjunction with other diagnostic assessments administered throughout the year to address learning gaps for students individually as well as among grade levels and subject areas across the district.
“These scores are not a complete representation of what we believe our students can do,” said Angela Whitelaw, deputy superintendent over academics.
And the scores shouldn’t be interpreted as a measure of success for virtual learning as a modality, leaders said, because of how many variables were different during than pandemic year compared to a typical school year.
“It’s not a true measurement to say if virtual learning actually works,” Antonio Burt, recent chief academic officer and current chief of schools, said of the test results.
“Virtual learning was a learning modality that we had to use due to the pandemic at the time,” he said. “There’s other variables that you will have to factor in to say, ‘Does one work better than other?’ We know that in-person learning is the best option for kids. However, we also know that we were faced with a pandemic.”
Quick facts about the SCS test scores
Below are some takeaways from the test scores, which are listed in full by grade and subject at the end of this story.
The takeaways are informed by a limited data and analysis from Shelby County Schools. The Tennessee Department of Education, which typically releases spreadsheets of the test scores before the public announcement of the data, did not share raw data files this year with The Commercial Appeal.
• Across all grade bands, math saw the greatest declines in the number of students on track.
• The greatest decline of all scores, compared to 2018-19 testing data, was for math in grades 3-5. The gap was 24.7 percentage points, or a drop from 33.5% to 8.8% of students on track in the subject area.
• The only increase from 2018-19 testing data, as provided by SCS, was for students in grades 9-12 in social studies. Results grew by 2.7 percentage points from two years ago, up from 13.9% to 16.6% of students on track.
• Although not the greatest decline by percentage points, only 14% of students in grades 3-5 are on-track in reading, a great dip in the proficiency score that has usually hovered around 25% in recent years. Third grade reading proficiency is a key data point for the district; the district has said it wants 90% of all third graders reading on track by 2025.
• Of all grade bands and subject areas, the fewest students — 4.4% — are proficient in math for grades 9-12.
• Considering math and reading scores combined, the lowest grades, 3-5, suffered the greatest achievement decreases.
Political implications of the scores
Despite this, the scores are likely to carry political weight.
Last week, during a press conference about statewide testing data, the Tennessee Department of Education showed test results based on the learning modality the district used — in-per
son, hybrid, remote — for the majority of the school year, concluding that districts that were remote had the least students performing on grade level. SCS is one of few districts that were remote for the majority of the school year, and typically has fewer students score on grade level than the state average.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-crossville, joined Gov. Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn at the news conference, with remarks targeted at SCS and Metro Nashville Public Schools, the two school districts that remained virtual for the longest time during the pandemic.
Sexton said it would be “unacceptable” for schools to close again in Tennessee. He made the first of repeated calls for a special session to address mask requirements and districts that closed again due to the pandemic, suggesting parents dissatisfied with their district’s pandemic response should be able to go to another school through a voucher system. Other legislators, including house education chair Rep. Mark White, R-memphis, have issued support for the session.
Lee has since said masks in schools should be left to the local school boards but criticized the Shelby County Health Department for its mask requirement of all people inside school buildings. The department has explained it has clear legal authority for the requirement.
The universal mask requirement is likely to keep children safe from COVID-19 and also minimize learning disruptions by reducing the likelihood of mass quarantines or school outbreaks, school experts have said.
Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey emphasized parent choice on masking in schools, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics guidance have been shared with districts: “We don’t have anything to add to that,” she said. “Those two large national bodies have spoken.”
How SCS is addressing learning gaps
SCS is addressing achievement gaps through new academic initiatives and strategies, many funded with federal pandemic relief dollars.
The district has hired about 620 of 750 K-2 teaching assistants, a $93 million cost, placing them in schools with highest academic needs first, Burt said at a recent briefing. The assistants are meant to decrease student-to-adult classroom ratios, which SCS says will boost academic success among younger students as well as decrease behavioral disruptions in the classroom.
This year, SCS is set to implement its second grade retention policy, which was created in an effort to address the district’s historically low reading proficiency. This year, 14% of students in grades 3-5 are reading on grade level, a decline from previous years and a great difference from the district’s goal, implemented in years prior to the pandemic, of 90% of third graders on track by 2025.
The district is also implementing about $55 million on summer learning and tutoring over the next four years. Additional millions in federal relief funding is going toward equity across academic programming in the district, with more Advanced Placement, foreign language and certification course offerings at more schools.
Regular diagnostic testing will continue to measure the impact of these new initiatives.
“We’ve done a good job of laying out an assessment calendar that will give us the data that we need to kind of build systems around our students for us to monitor learning loss, but also to monitor the growth that the student should have this year,” said Jaron Carson, incoming chief academic officer.
Families can access testing data for their students online at the Tennessee Department of Education website: https://familyreport.tnedu.gov/login
The district has yet to complete total analyses of the data, determining, for example, whether economically disadvantaged students had greater declines in scores, which was true of statewide data, according to the department of education.
It has, though, continued to acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on people and students of color. Students of color make up about 93% of the district’s population. A federal report also found that students from families that were most likely to be dealt the greatest health and financial blows by the pandemic were also the ones most likely to already be suffering achievement gaps.
Scores by grade, subject
SCS provided the percentage of students on track across the following grade bands and subject areas:
English language arts h Grades 3-5: 14% on track, down from 23.3% in 2019
h Grades 6-8: 11.9% on track, down from 17.6% in 2019
h Grades 9-12: 18% on track, down from 20.4% in 2019
Math h Grades 3-5: 8.8% on track, down from 33.5% in 2019
h Grades 6-8: 6.6% on track, down from 21.4% in 2019
h Grades 9-12: 4.4% on track, down from 12.4% in 2019
Science
There were no science scores reported in 2019. h Grades 3-5: 14.9% on track h Grades 6-8: 12.7% on track h Grades 9-12: 22.2% on track
Social studies h Grades 6-8: 13.8% on track, down from 23.1% in 2019
h Grades 9-12: 16.6% on track, up from 13.9% in 2019
Laura Testino covers education and children’s issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @Ldtestino