The inaugural year of TNReady might be remembered by many as a flop, but the Tennessee Department of Education is optimistic its new testing vendor will provide a “restart” in the upcoming school year.
The state offered a two-year, $60 million contract Wednesday to Questar to administer Tennessee’s standardized assessments, praising the testing vendor’s experience developing a large-scale test thoughtfully and quickly.
“Students, teachers, and parents deserve a better testing experience in Tennessee, and we believe [Wednesday’s] announcement is another step in the right direction,” Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said.
McQueen said, pursuant to state contract procedures, the deal should be finalized in a week. She said the department will release more details about the new test then, saying it’s “critical” for the state to keep looking at ways to streamline and reduce testing.
By the end of the summer, McQueen said the test’s format and finalized assessment blueprints, which outline the number of questions devoted to various groups of standards, will be available for educators.
The state also announced plans to slow down the rollout of online assessments over the next three years. Students in grades 3-8 will take paper and pencil assessments this upcoming school year, and high schools will have the option to use online testing.
McQueen said the decision to slow down the implementation of online testing was not because if Questar’s inability, but because educators and parents across the state are asking for more time to get students – especially in lower grades – prepared for the online assessment.
“Older students have more experience with being online,” McQueen said. “And I think it’s good to give them the option.”
Hamilton County Schools Chief Academic Officer Jill Levine said she applauds McQueen for listening to the concerns of educators and parents about TNReady, specifically with regard to reducing testing time and not rushing into online assessments.
Levine said she views this next year as an opportunity for Hamilton County Schools, and she hopes the district will not be as concerned about test scores and focus on student engagement.
“If we teach in ways that make children want to learn, they will learn more,” Levine said. “These are the things that will ultimately improve test scores.”
The state began looking for a testing vendor in late April after McQueen decided to sever the state’s $108 million contract with Measurement Inc., the vendor that developed TNReady.
In 2014, Measurement Inc. received the state’s contract over Questar, but McQueen said Wednesday she thinks Questar is now “the best fit for Tennessee.”
Questar has implemented large-scale assessments in four other states: Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi and New York.
McQueen highlighted Wednesday the testing vendor’s experience administering a large-scale test in a time frame similar to the one facing Tennessee, as Questar began working with Mississippi in July 2015 to develop an assessment and was able to administer it to students on a high school block schedule by the late fall.
The inaugural year for TNReady was plagued with problems, which the state blames on Measurement Inc. The two-part test was designed to be taken online, but because of glitches with the online platform, the state decided in February to return to paper and pencil testing.
Hamilton County Schools had to delay part one testing twice waiting for the tests to arrive, and in April McQueen decided testing would be suspended for the remainder of the school year for elementary and middle school students since the paper tests still hadn’t arrived for many districts statewide.
After the decision to end the contract with Measurement Inc., state officials quickly awarded an emergency contract to Pearson to grade the remainder of the TNReady assessments.
The state plans this fall to provide the Hamilton County Department of Education with information about how students in grades 3-8 performed on part one of TNReady, but the information will be used only for informational purposes and scores will not be attached, McQueen said.
The tests high school students took also will be returned to the district with “detailed information” on a redesigned scorecard, but these scores will not be used to evaluate teachers, students or schools, according to the state.
Contact staff writer Kendi A. Rainwater at 423-757-6592 or kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com. Follow on Twitter @kendi_and.