Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.Memphis-Shelby County Schools will require all third grade students to retake state standardized reading tests on the last two days of the school year because of a timing conflict with Tennessee’s data release schedule.District officials said Thursday that they’re implementing a universal retesting because of the high stakes nature of a 2021 Tennessee law that holds back some third graders who don’t score as proficient on the state test. The Tennessee Department of Education will release preliminary state testing results on May 20, the day before MSCS closes for summer break. Those late results mean the district wouldn’t have time to determine which students are eligible for retests, which can help underperformers avoid extensive interventions required by Tennessee’s third grade reading law. Other school districts affected by extensive winter weather closures earlier this year are also grappling with the same issue. Metro Nashville Public Schools is currently considering its options, a spokesperson said. Out of “an abundance of caution,” said MSCS Accountability and Data Director Bill White, all 5,500 third graders will spend their last two days retaking the literacy portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.“These poor third graders are taking a lot of tests. And we recognize that,” White said. “We want any student who may have not been proficient the first time to have the opportunity to hopefully improve their score.”Retake scores aren’t used in official proficiency data for the district, or in state and federal report cards. But students who pass the second time are exempted from required intervention measures. In past years, less than 1% of third graders were forced to repeat a school year, but more than 12,000 received mandatory tutoring. Last year, just under 30% of MSCS third graders passed last year’s reading test, known as TCAP. A little over 40% of third graders passed statewide. According to the Tennessee law, all remaining students were required to receive additional tutoring or attend summer school. Usually, White said, MSCS uses preliminary data from the Tennessee Department of Education to sift out the students who didn’t pass TCAP tests the first time. Standardized testing was delayed in the district this year because of a February winter storm that shut down classes for two weeks. Educators statewide requested a pushed-back testing schedule, but the state department did not pass a universal schedule change. Districts most affected by the storm, including MSCS, implemented a delay anyway. “We’re in kind of a scheduling bind,” White said. “With a district our size, the amount of data we’re talking about, that’s really not enough time to identify ‘these are the students who need to take it.’”The last time MSCS mandated retesting for all third graders was in the first year of the Tennessee law, White said. That year, over 25,000 students statewide were retested. Nashville public schools are in a similar situation, with their last full day of classes on May 20. In an emailed statement, the district said it’s still considering options for how to move forward. Amy Maples, MSCS’ director of curriculum and instruction, said the district will offer retesting sites on May 26 and 27 for students who are absent the last two days of school. Most third graders will complete the shortened online version of the literacy test, which doesn’t include a writing portion, on May 20. “The goal is really to not put any additional hardships on our families,” Maples said. Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
