Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
Tennessee educators are asking state lawmakers to dial back or alter state testing schedules and requirements, with one reading specialist testifying this week that 10-year-olds are not “developmentally ready” to handle the two-week testing block that schools face each year.
“It is a madhouse during testing, and we’re a small school district,” said Angel Moore, the Perry County High School guidance counselor, of the two-week window in April when Tennessee schools administer the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program.
Moore was among several educators who testified Wednesday before the Joint Advisory Committee on Innovations in K-12 Education. They described scheduling upheaval, teachers stretched thin, and kids stressed to the point of physical discomfort in the leadup to state testing.
Dr. Kevin Schaaf, a Metro Nashville Public Schools reading specialist, said students are often fatigued and disengaged in class, stressed by the emphasis on test performance.
“The two weeks of TCAP in April skews our efforts throughout the rest of the school year,” Schaaf said.
Schaaf suggested students should be screened before taking TCAP’s reading assessment, arguing there is no need to test a student if they have already demonstrated in the classroom and other testing that they cannot read at level. He also recommended splitting TCAP into three parts throughout the year.
“Imagine the difference when teachers are saying, ‘Next week we have an important math test on Thursday,’ instead of “The next two weeks are dedicated to TCAP,’ ” Schaaf said. “Ten-year-olds are not developmentally ready to endure two straight exam weeks as if they’re in college, so why are we putting them through it?”
Rep. Mark Cochran, a Republican from Englewood, also asked the education department to consider spreading TCAP testing out.
David Laird, Tennessee’s assistant education commissioner of assessment and accountability, said many states that attempted to spread out testing ultimately abandoned the practice “because it essentially enforces a statewide version of a pacing calendar, which is wildly unpopular in a lot of places.” Education officials also said it could impede local control to set school calendars.
High school testing requirements are also too stringent or ill-suited for certain students, some educators testified on Wednesday. Monroe County Schools federal programs director Lee Anne Strickland suggested the state eliminate its Algebra II “end of course” exam for 11th graders, maintaining the course requirement but dropping the test needed to get a high school diploma.
“That’s something we hear so frequently from our parents and our community: We test too much,” Strickland. “Now, I’m a firm believer in accountability, so I don’t want to suggest that we shouldn’t be held accountable for what we do in public schools.”
The Algebra II exam is given in the same grade Tennessee students are required to take the ACT. The dueling tests are not needed for students on career technical paths, Strickland argued, and it’s not “logical” to prepare students for two different standardized tests during the same school year.
Tennessee in recent years eliminated similar end-of-course exams for 11th grade chemistry and English.
Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixson, pushed back on Strickland’s testimony, saying students and teachers should be accountable for an end-of-course exam in the same way they would be for a final exam.
Some legislators appeared more amenable to Strickland’s suggestions.
“At some point, do we have to ask ourselves, are we giving a Tennessee EOC just for the sake of giving it? Or should we make something that is more aligned to the ACT?” Cochran said.
Some changes to state testing are already in the works, education officials said.
Tennessee elementary schoolers will begin taking their state TCAP tests online as early as spring 2027, a move education officials hope will accelerate grading and the release of results to schools and families.
Elementary schoolers will continue to receive paper writing tests, which could require schools to administer the writing test earlier in the school year to allow for a shipping and grading window.
Laird told lawmakers that students will continue to use physical materials on reading comprehension tests, even if the test questions will be on a computer.
“If they’re taught all year to work with paper products, highlighting and underlining as they read, we’re going to give them the materials to use those strategies while they take the test,” Laird said.
The committee plans to meet again in October to consider potential recommendations yielded from the Wednesday testimony and previous meetings. Lawmakers expect to prepare a report with specific policy proposals when lawmakers return to session in January.
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
