New TNReady Score Reports to Provide Better Information on Student Progress

NASHVILLE—Tennessee Education Commissioner Candice McQueen has unveiled new TNReady score reports, which provide more information than ever before for parents, educators, and students on individual student achievement and growth. The reports were redesigned over the course of a year with significant input from parents and educators from across the state and will be provided to high school parents and teachers this fall to share their student’s End of Course results in math, English, and U.S. history.

The new design of the parent reports offers the ability to see how a student performed when compared to grade-level expectations set by educators in Tennessee. This level of individual student performance is clearly displayed in comparison to the student’s school, district, and state averages, and new descriptors for student performance—mastered, on track, approaching, or below—indicate the student’s level of understanding based on the concepts and skills expected of students in that grade or course. Parents and families will also be able to better understand their student’s strengths, areas of improvement, and next steps to consider.

The reports will share initial results from TNReady, the state’s better, more rigorous assessment that is fully aligned to Tennessee’s academic standards, which are based on what students need to know and be able to do each year to ultimately be prepared for college and their careers. These standards set higher expectations, so students, families, and teachers may see different results on TNReady than they have on past TCAP assessments— not because students have learned less, but because all students are being held to a higher bar. The goal of the new reports is to support families as they help their student to grow and develop their full potential.

“It is important for families and educators, as well as school and district leaders, to have an accurate understanding of how their students are growing and learning each year,” McQueen said. “The information in the new family reports provides parents with another perspective to help them engage in meaningful conversations about their student’s education. These reports empower parents to be active partners with educators and to advocate for increased support and opportunities.”

The updates to the family reports came as a result of a year-long feedback effort led by the department and a recommendation from the state’s Assessment Task Force in August 2015. The department convened dozens of parents in focus groups across all regions of the state, and more than 600 parents and members of the public weighed in online. In addition, the department shared evolving versions of the report with various groups throughout the year, including the department’s Parent Advisory Council, Teacher Advisory Council, Assessment Task Forces, and the Governor’s Teacher Cabinet. This insight was used to design the reports in every aspect. From the graphics to layout, language, color scheme, and naming of performance levels, feedback from stakeholders drove the development of the reports. 

Later this fall, a new online resource will be available through TNReady.gov to help parents and families further understand the reports and make informed next steps to support their students. This website is being designed in consultation with parents and educators from across the state to provide the most relevant and impactful information to families.

In addition to the new family reports, revised educator and standard analysis reports will be shared with high school teachers in November to share results from the End of Course math, English, and U.S. History exams. These reports will allow educators to identify areas where their students exceeded, met, or were below expectations when compared to other students in Tennessee, and the standard analysis report outlines how their students performed on each tested standard, allowing teachers to continually refine their practice and grow as educators. New comprehensive school score reports will also be provided to school leaders.

Individual family reports will be available in November for families whose students took End of Course exams in the spring. The scoring process is more extensive for the first year of a new assessment, which is why high school results are delayed this year, but starting next spring, results will be available for high school families in early summer. Due to the suspension of state testing for students in grades 3-8, families of those students will not be able to receive full reports. However, in November schools will receive some information represented by raw scores on student performance, and families are advised to contact their schools later this year if they want to know how their student performed.

Families of students in grades 3-8 will receive the revised family reports next fall for their students’ scores in math and English language arts. Because social studies will be a field test this year in grades 3-8, there will not score reports next fall. Science reports, both for students in grades 3-8 and End of Course assessments, will not be updated until the 2018-19 year, when new science standards and the new science assessment are implemented.

To view a copy of the new score reports, please visit TNReady.gov. For media inquiries, contact Sara Gast at (615) 532-6260 or Sara.Gast@tn.gov.