In her first appearance before the Senate education committee, Tennessee’s Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds received sharp criticism for the rollout of the state’s third grade retention law, which threatened to hold back kids who didn’t pass the English Language Arts section of their TCAP test.
Third grade retention was controversial when it took effect last year. While relatively few third graders had to repeat the grade, thousands had to participate in summer camps and tutoring this school year to move on to fourth. Now a new challenge looms for them: demonstrating “adequate growth” on the English Language Arts section of this year’s fourth grade TCAP.
Lawmakers question retention rollout and communication
Sen. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro, asked Reynolds how parents can know if their fourth grader is on track to meet that growth target.
“That is the responsibility of that local school district and those campuses to be able to communicate,” Reynolds said.
However, the state has not yet finalized the definition of “adequate growth.” And it won’t until February. Republican Sen. Mark Pody of Lebanon called Reynolds out on that.
“Saying that the school districts have that information when the final reading hasn’t been been held yet, is, is not accurate,” Pody told Reynolds.
“I almost feel that we’re building the plane as we’re flying it,” Pody said. “I‘m all for this accountability and I voted for this each time, but implementing it has been a problem.”
Pody also expressed frustration at getting data from the state’s Department of Education. He acknowledged some of that was before Reynolds took office in July. Still, he said getting accurate information from the department last spring and summer as the retention law took effect was “next to impossible.”
What could “adequate growth” mean?
The measure of “adequate growth” that’s currently on the table would vary from student to student, depending on how low they scored on last year’s test. (You can find a draft of the Tennessee Board of Education’s proposed rule here.)
Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, shared concerns about a fourth grader in his district.
“This child has done everything that we’ve asked. The family’s doing everything that we’ve asked,” Haile said. “And yet we’re fixing to penalize them.”
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, asked Reynolds whether students who get within a tenth of a percent of “adequate growth” would still be held back.
“Yes,” Reynolds said. “There are no other options in the law.”
And that law is not likely to change this session. Committee Chair Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, said that he has heard from people asking for a way to let fourth graders who fall short move on to fifth grade.
“Candidly, I’m gonna play my hand. We’re not going to have a fifth, sixth, seventh grade pathway.” Lundberg said.
Pointed questions about school vouchers
Reynolds also gave the Senate Education Committee an update on the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) pilot program. Low and middle income families in three of the state’s most populous districts are eligible to use these vouchers. The public dollars can help pay for private school tuition and other educational costs like books, uniforms and transportation.
Reynolds fielded a question from Senate Minorty Leader Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, about how students in the pilot program have performed.
“The results aren’t anything to write home about,” Reynolds said.
Students in the pilot program performed worse on TCAP than their public school peers.
“But at the end of the day, the parents are happy with this new learning environment for their students,” Reynolds said.
91% of ESA parents who responded to a state survey said they were satisfied.
Gov. Bill Lee plans to introduce a universal voucher program this legislative session. That would make public money available for anybody to put toward private school costs, even if they’re wealthy and already attending private school. So far, Lee has not committed to including specific accountability rules, like annual testing, in the bill. (Students in the current income-restricted program are required to take TCAP.)
School letter grades
The Tennessee Department of Education released long-awaited school letter grades last month, after a last-minute adjustment to the formula. Reynolds explained to lawmakers how the new formula compares to a previous version.
The new calculations no longer consider chronic absenteeism, progress toward proficiency for English language learners, and high school graduation rates. The new formula still considers growth alongside academic achievement, but test scores count for 50% of school letter grades.
The most common score was a C. More than a quarter of Tennessee schools earned a D or and F.
“I want to make sure that as we communicate this to our students and parents and our teachers and administrators, that they know, like, we’re not saying that you are failures,” Akbari said. “We’re saying that there are interventions and potential resources you need, and that the department is going to be able to provide those.”
Reynolds said schools that score a D or F won’t face penalties. But those schools could be pulled into hearings with the Department and Board of Education. Chalkbeat reports they could also face audits, and low letter grades can affect property values around schools as well as their reputations.
Reynolds said the school hearings will focus on opportunities to improve outcomes for students.
“But at the end of the day,” Reynolds said, “growth isn’t good enough if you never really reach grade level.”
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