Most TN schools could fail under tougher standards
Education chief warns that students may struggle with exams
By Jaime Sarrio
February 24, 2010
Tennessee's top education official predicts the majority of the state's 1,700 schools will fail to meet standardized testing goals this spring because of the new, tougher public school curriculum introduced this school year.
Tennessee's schools are more challenging, and tests that measure what students know will be tougher too, said Commissioner of Education Timothy Webb. That means students and schools that boasted high test scores under the old system may for the first time wind up with a failing grade.
More students may be held back a grade, and Metro Schools could face a state takeover.
At a meeting Tuesday with school board members from across the state, Webb told the audience to prepare for backlash as the public gets a sobering look at Tennessee's student performance.
"It's going to get rough — the winds are going to blow, the waves are going to crash, and there's going to be some tough times," he said. "But we have to stand our ground and continue to move forward and do the right things."
Most local leaders have embraced the idea of increasing standards, but they are worried about the consequences that failing schools and districts face if they don't meet the mark on tests this spring.
Schools and districts face punitive action if they fail to meet state testing goals every year. The longer they fail, the more severe the intervention. If Metro Schools fail to meet academic goals this year, the district faces the most severe intervention available: state takeover. School chief Jesse Register said that would be a mistake because the district has proved it is making gains.
Register said he supports the standards but believes all schools and districts should be given a yearlong grace period from punitive actions. Monday
evening, Register and other Nashville board members met with leaders from Tennessee's largest school districts to discuss legislative issues.
"Metro Nashville will not get there next year, and we will be in state takeover if there is not a transition plan," Register said. "If you're at step two on the ladder and you're going to step 20, you can't take it in one step."
The U.S. Department of Education would have to approve such a grace period, which isn't likely according to Commissioner Webb and other education experts. But state officials acknowledge that they face a serious challenge if several schools and districts require intervention next year.
'Cream puff award'
Jeff Gagne, director of education policies at the Southern Regional Education Board, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, said Georgia faced a backlash when test scores dipped after new standards were introduced over the past few years. But the state has shown success with moving troubled schools into good standing.
"(Tennessee is) doing the right thing by raising the bar," he said. "You want to do right by your kids, and lowering the bar is not an option."
Conversations about new standards started in 2006 when a magazine called Education Next gave Tennessee the "cream puff award" for having the worst standards in the nation. A high number of students were scoring "proficient" on state tests while failing national exams.
Under the old system, sixth-graders learned basic math and double-digit multiplication. Now, they get an introduction to algebra. Science experiments didn't start until third grade but now begin in kindergarten.
High school students needed three years of math but now have to take four.
Bernie Driscoll, parent of two magnet school students at Martin Luther King Jr. and Meigs Middle, said the results will be a wake-up call for parents and officials.
"I think unfortunately the state and the district, they've fabricated progress, and they have a bitter pill to swallow," he said.
Source: Tennessean