TDOE Approves Almost All Third-Grade Retention Appeals
Image Credit: U.S. Government / Public Domain
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
After nearly two-thirds of third graders across the state failed to score proficient on this year’s TCAP Reading test, new data released by the Tennessee Department of Education shows that nearly 82% of families who appealed the state’s third grade retention law received approval.
The high approval rate has led some legislators to question why the law was put into effect in the first place.
“Well, the third-grade retention law was a dumpster fire of a policy from the get-go,” stated Representative John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville-District 55), “We all want to improve literacy rates. There are many ways to do that that are more effective than retaining third grade students based on a single standardized test.”
Governor Bill Lee continues to defend the legislation, stating that the positives are far greater than the negatives.
“It’s really hard, but what we know is even harder is watching their kid fail in the future,” said Lee.
Clemmons says he is glad to see so many appeals granted, but he believes they are more for political reasons.
“I would be surprised if a lot of those appeals weren’t pushed through and allowed just to save face for this administration,” Clemmons said. “I’m very happy for those families that they’re not having to endure the worst impacts of bad policy.”
News 2 asked the TDOE about the high number of approvals and asked if this was something they expected to see again in the future. They received the following response:
“To be clear, pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-6-3115, which updated the state’s third grade retention and promotion law, the intent of these promotion pathways and appeals process is to ensure students who need additional supports can receive them before promotion to fourth grade. Specific to the appeals process, districts began identifying families of third grade students who were subject to the retention provisions of this law once TCAP raw scores were returned on May 19.
This document outlines the full Parent Appeals process.
Within it, I’d point you to the bottom section that outlines appeals eligibility. These two criteria is how the approval or denial of appeals are determined.”
According to that document, a successful appeal could be granted if a student scored at or above the 40th percentile on a universal reading screener or if they had an extenuating or catastrophic circumstance leading up to the state testing date.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
What a USELESS law> This is a Disservice to the children and Ignorant parents who want their children to pass due to embarrassment or what ever, The children are the ones going to suffer in years to come because they have learned nothing and given a free pass.