2,000 Tennessee Students Advance To 4th Grade After Learning Camp

Image Credit: Alliance for Excellent Education / CC

The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –

More than 2,000 students will advance to fourth grade after the first summer learning camps as part of Tennessee’s new third-grade reading retention law.

The summer learning camps were available as one option for promotion for students across the state who scored “approaching” on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test or TCAP retake. Students needed to have 90% attendance at the summer camp and had to show adequate growth on the post-test to advance to fourth grade.

There were 24,907 students eligible for the summer camp option and 8,592 completed the summer and took the post-test, with 2,055 (24%) showing adequate growth.

“Thousands of third-grade students across the state participated in summer learning camps to catch up, accelerate their learning, and benefit from additional academic support over the summer,” Tennessee Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds said in a statement. “As our students have begun a new school year, we will continue focusing on the proven interventions that are working to set all our students on a path to success.”

Just 40% of Tennessee third-graders scored proficient on the first testing of TCAP last year. More than 26,000 of the students who did not scored proficient but were eligible then took a retake, with 12.8% scoring proficient on the second test.

Another option to advance to fourth grade was to file an appeal. Of the 9,054 students who appealed, Tennessee approved 7,812 applications to advance and 685 students had their appeal denied with others deemed not applicable.

About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.