The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has released this statement from President David Mansouri about the TNReady score proposal presented to the State Board of Education on Thursday:
"The results from the TNReady assessment will reset how Tennessee measures student achievement. This reset amounts to being more honest about how well prepared Tennessee students are for the next grade and beyond.
"Greater honesty is a welcome step toward the goal of ensuring every student graduates high school ready for postsecondary success. There have been wide gaps between state achievement measures and ACT college-readiness benchmarks – 26 points in reading, 33 points in math – and those will begin to close with the recommendations made today.
"At the beginning of the TNReady achievement reset, a significant percentage of students will be 'approaching grade level,' but that was expected because TNReady is a more challenging test. The state has designed new reports for parents and teachers that will provide specific, actionable advice about the kind of work a student should do in the scholastic year ahead to get or stay on grade level.
"After a similar assessment reset in 2010-11, state student achievement grew like never before and Tennessee became the fastest-improving state on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That experience demonstrates that Tennessee students and educators rise to the challenge when our expectations are high."