A group of adults failed the TCAP test. TN third graders can be held back for doing the same.

TCAP testing begins Monday. For Tennessee third graders and their families, the standardized test comes with a lot of pressure.

If they don’t do well enough on the English language arts portion of the exam, students are required to attend summer learning programs, enroll in tutoring or both under a state law passed in 2021. They can also be held back, or retained from starting fourth grade with their classmates. 

Critics of the third grade retention law have said that the test isn’t focused enough, and that the law unfairly penalizes kids who don’t do well. 

And recently, some adults have also struggled to pass. 

A group of about 35 adults took that portion of the test during a mock exam, and about half of them failed, Metro Nashville school board member Berthena Nabaa-Mckinney said during a school board meeting in February. She told WPLN that her biggest take away from taking the test is seeing how it assesses literacy.

“Literacy is no longer just about students being able to read material,” Nabaa-Mckinney told WPLN News. “It has a lot of comprehension.”

Students struggle with that comprehension, according to David Williams, MNPS’s deputy chief of academics. Williams said during the school board meeting that many third graders were able to define words or pick out what characters in a story were doing, but they had a hard time finding the central meaning of a passage. 

A high standard

According to the Nation’s Report Card, the TCAP is one of the country’s most rigorous standardized tests. Students are expected to show that they are “proficient” — meaning they are on track for college and career success — with the test.

But only 41% of Tennessee third graders tested proficient on the English language arts section of last year’s TCAP. (That’s a two percent increase from 2023.)

Despite the state’s low proficiency rates, just 655 third graders were retained during the 2023-2024 school year, according to a report from the Tennessee Department of Education. This is a decrease from the previous school year — the first year the law took effect —when the retention rate was 1.2% with 898 third graders not being promoted to the fourth grade.

Ninety percent attendance during summer learning programs, enrollment in yearlong tutoring and parental appeals all contribute to low retention rates, according to the report.

TCAP history 

Nearly twenty years ago, the state’s proficiency rates were more than double what they are today, with about 90% of Tennessee students testing proficient in English on the TCAP. The shift occurred after the state received an “F” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for truth in advertising about student proficiency in 2007.

Education leaders then redefined proficiency to better prepare Tennessee students to compete with their peers across the country. They sought to match the level of proficiency set by national assessments.

Nabaa-McKinney noted that participating in these mock exams is important because it provides insight into what exactly is being asked of students on a test that holds so much weight.

“I think as a community what we really need to think about is helping people understand what the standardized testing looks like and what is being asked of eight, nine, and 10-year olds who are taking that assessment,” she told WPLN.

Metro Nashville Public Schools says students are on track to improve their English language arts TCAP scores.