Taking a school test is a learning experience as well as a measure of knowledge and achievement, according to educators. Getting and then interpreting the test results is part of the overall experience. This year that experience is likely to be painful for parents. Gov. Phil Bredesen and state education officials warn that standardized test scores brought home by Hamilton County students next month will be low. Parents, they say, will be shocked, but they should not be surprised. It’s all part of a welcome effort by Tennessee to toughen education standards and to properly align the state with national standards.
Scores from the TCAP (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) tests given to public school students last spring are in many instances significantly lower than they have been in the past. Statewide records show that only 30 percent of sixth-graders, 29 percent of seventh-graders and 26 percent of eighth-graders met or exceeded benchmarks on the tests given last spring. In 2009, by comparison, 91 percent of all elementary school students were scored as proficient or advanced in math and reading. The difference from one year to the next is stunning, but understandable when put in context.
A higher standard
Parents should not worry that the lower scores are a reflection on what kids have learned or that the upgraded test is unfair. Kids, officials stress, are not getting dumber, forgetting more or learning less. The scores are lower because students are now measured against a higher standard.
That is because Tennessee adjusted the TCAP to bring it in line with similar tests across the country. Bredesen unapologetically sums up the result of the change. Higher benchmarks, he said, mean “harder tests and lower test scores. There’s no getting around it.”
There’s also “no getting around” the need to create standards that correctly match achievements by Tennessee students to those in other states. Failure to do so in the past produced relatively rosy results that pleased parents and made the state look good, but it was a disservice to students who matriculate into a world where they must compete in a national and, increasingly, in an international arena for jobs.
No false assurances
Any test that offers false assurances of competence makes no sense in that environment. Before standards were toughened, the TCAP did that.
TCAP results sent home this year are the first to reflect the increased academic standards imposed two years ago by the state Board of Education. The changes were implemented after Bredesen said the standards in place were too low. He wisely urged change, pointing out that it was unfair to tell parents that their children were “proficient” only for both to discover that was not true when the child went to college or entered the workplace.
He had the numbers to support his case. State scores at the time indicated that about 85 percent of the state’s eighth-graders tested “proficient” in math, but that a national test (the National Assessment for Educational Progress) on the same subject indicated that about 23 percent were proficient. Such disparities do not go unnoticed in the broader world.
A failing grade
In 2007, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave the state an “F” for what Bredesen calls “truth in advertising” because of the difference between state test scores and scores on national standardized tests in the same subject. Such scorecards are widely viewed by companies considering expanding current operations in the state or bringing new jobs to it. An “F” is unlikely to provoke a positive response.
Neither is a “D-minus.” Standards in Tennessee were so low in the past, says state Education Commissioner Tim Webb, that a score of “proficient” last year on the 2009 TCAP test would have been awarded that almost failing grade when compared to national standards. That, too, is an embarrassment to a state that now works diligently to assure students – and their parents – that a proper education will provide entree to a college or a career that will help them to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and, if they choose to do so, to raise a family.
While most parents agree that a vigorous preparation for post-high school life is an admirable goal in the abstract, some are still likely to complain about the new standards when the reality of their kids’ lower test scores strikes home.
Backlash expected
State education officials, in fact, expect some sort of parental backlash. They’ve enrolled Bredesen and a coalition of business, community and education organizations in a statewide campaign to forestall such an uprising. The group has enjoyed a positive response to presentations around the state, but a protest, perhaps in the form of a political push to water down standards, still could arise in coming weeks. Such a response would be misguided.
The tough new standards might be hard to swallow initially, but they will serve a vital purpose over time. The new benchmarks are part of a laudable effort to improve public schools. The overall program to overhaul and enhance elementary and secondary education in the state is still in its infancy, but it already has attracted positive notice. The federal government’s award of $500 million in Race to the Top funds, for example, acknowledges Tennessee’s renewed commitment to build a system that provides the level of education that measures up to national standards. It’s an admirable goal, one that deserves widespread public support.
It seems counterintuitive to say that lower scores are a herald of a brighter future for Tennessee students. That, however, is the case. The 2010 TCAP results indicate exactly where state students rank on a national scale. The challenge now is to help students improve their numbers and to lift the state from the educational doldrums to one of respect among its peers.