Nashville’s third-graders have experienced significant challenges during their short lives. As kindergarteners, their education was disrupted by COVID-19. They’ve since experienced a deadly shooting at a private school in their community, and many are now facing the possibility of being held back.
The retention risk stems from a 2021 state law seeking to boost literacy by focusing on a grade seen by experts and educators as significant in determining a child’s future academic success. Per the law, public school third-graders who don’t score high enough on the English language arts portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program standardized test must receive specified academic interventions in order to be promoted to the fourth grade.
Those who score in the “approaching” category of the TCAP must attend summer school or receive tutoring in the fourth grade in order to advance. Those who score “below” must fulfill both requirements. Students who opt into summer school must maintain a 90 percent attendance rate. Those who score “approaching” and attend summer school must demonstrate “adequate growth” for it to count — although the state didn’t clarify what that meant until May 19, when the Tennessee Board of Education defined it as showing at least 5 percent improvement on a post-test assessment. Some students, including those with disabilities or suspected disabilities, those who have been previously retained, and those who are new English learners, are exempt from the law. Eligible students can appeal a retention decision with the Tennessee Department of Education.
“I think the best word to use for it is ‘chaos’ and just overall confusion,” says Sara Morrison, a Metro Nashville Public Schools third-grade teacher. “The timeliness of all of it has seemed extremely unrealistic. And now, I feel like all of that is coming to fruition as far as no one really knows what’s going on. There are still all these questions. Parents are furious.”
MNPS students received their initial TCAP scores on May 22. Those who didn’t score high enough retested in the following days, attempting to land a better score. The initial results showed that 29.7 percent of MNPS students scored high enough to be promoted without academic interventions. The breakdown of each TCAP category (before retesting) shows that 11.1 percent of these students exceeded expectations, 18.6 percent met them, 34.4 percent scored in the approaching category and 37.9 percent fell below expectations. Those who retested received their new scores on Friday. (The Scene was not able to obtain the official numbers before sending this article to press.) Statewide, roughly 60 percent of third-graders faced possible retention based on their scores.
Both the TDOE and MNPS tout academic gains, but the numbers still indicate that the majority of Nashville’s students and Tennessee’s students are not proficient in reading — at least as far as the test defines proficiency. Critics argue that the TCAP is more complex than necessary and that it isn’t a fair way to assess students’ reading abilities.
“I had a parent on the phone with me at 7:45 last night panicking about her daughter being held back,” says Morrison. This student, like many others, has demonstrated reading proficiency in other areas. Morrison says she’s in the gifted student program, scored highly on benchmark testing and memorized an entire school play. “She is at risk for retention,” says Morrison, “and it’s just wild to me.”
The law has rippling effects. Summer plans have been in limbo as parents determine whether their students need to take summer classes. For some parents, these plans might include out-of-state custody arrangements or lost summer camp deposits. (YMCA Camp Widjiwagan will refund deposits for students affected by this law.) School staff must prepare for a summer program catering to thousands of students. Some educators are unsure how this could affect school capacity and staffing in the coming school years if large numbers of third-graders are retained.
Melodie Madden Adams’ son was affected by the law. She says he had trouble sleeping and was “terrified of not getting to be with his friends next year. … The stress was awful.”
Her son passed the test, “but I don’t think it would have happened without all the interventions that we did on our own, like the tutoring and all of the extra hours that he should have been playing outside,” says Madden Adams. She also emphasizes how well teachers handled helping parents and students navigate the process.
Many hoped state lawmakers would repeal the third-grade retention law during this year’s legislative session — they didn’t. After much consideration and public pushback, state leaders added another benchmark test to be considered in retention decisions, but that provision won’t kick in until next school year. On May 24, as reported by Tennessee Lookout, a joint fiscal review committee extended the state’s contract with British company NCS Pearson, the testing vendor that administers the TCAP tests. They’re also giving the vendor an additional $39 million, increasing the contract to $132 million.
“Seeing lawmakers and people who maybe have not been in the classroom since they were a student in college or high school, let alone ever taught a class, make these decisions for these kids — it seems very unfair,” says Morrison. “‘Defeating’ is a really good word to describe it.”
Update, May 31: According to a spokesperson, around 11 percent of MNPS students scored "proficient" on the retest, and another 10 percent boosted their scores from "below" to "approaching." Additionally, on May 30, the TDOE appeal window opened — eligible families have until June 30 to appeal for a promotion to fourth grade."
Sixty percent of the state's third-graders didn’t score high enough on the TCAP to pass on to fourth grade
