The Tennessee Department of Education released Wednesday TNReady assessment results for students in grades three-through-eight.
TNReady replaces the old TCAP, which earned the state an "F" from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2007 for ‘Truth in Advertising’ student readiness. The 2017 TNReady results fall into one of four achievement levels: mastered, on track, approaching and below grade-level expectations.
The state education department reports only 5.7 percent of students in grades 3-8 are considered as having ‘mastered’ the content on the English assessment. Some 8.9 percent of students ‘mastered’ math and 16.3 percent of students scored ‘advanced’ in science, which was measured similarly to TCAP and will change next year.
Education commissioner Candice McQueen said the scores cannot compare to prior TCAP scores but set a baseline for future growth. This was the first year of TNReady grades 3-8. District and school-level results will be shared later this fall.
For TNReady English in grades 3-8:
5.7 percent of students are considered as having mastered the content,
28.1 percent are on track,
44.7 percent are approaching, and
21.5 percent are below grade-level expectations.
In TNReady grades 3-8 math:
8.9 percent of students are considered mastered,
29.1 percent are on track,
36.1 percent are approaching, and
25.9 percent are below grade-level expectations.
The 2016-17 science exams were similar to previous years' TCAP tests, but it will transition to a dynamic exam that will assess the more rigorous science standards when those are implemented in the 2018-19 school year. The science exam still uses the old performance categories: advanced, proficient, below, and below basic.
For the 2016-17 science tests in grades 3-8:
16.3 percent of students scored as advanced,
42.2 percent of students scored as proficient,
23.7 percent of students scored as below, and
17.8 percent of students scored as below basic.
For the 2016-17 school year, social studies exams were field tested for grades 3-8 and therefore did not generate achievement results.
