TNReady delay heightens parent concerns, strains lesson plans

The relief of having more time to help her son prepare for Tennessee’s new TNReady assessment following a statewide testing delay soon turned into frustration as Shelia Lumpkin looked at the practice questions.

“For some of the parents who came up in the ‘80s, we were not faced with something like this,” said Lumpkin, calling the math and English questions difficult to understand.

Parent Shelia Lumpkin looks at TNReady practice questions. (Laura Faith Kebede)

The parent of an eighth-grader, Lumpkin was among about 60 Memphis parents gathered Saturday at Oakhaven Middle School to hear how parents can help their students prepare for the rigor.

“You have to do … more than what your parents did for you,” explained Rhonda Thompson, coordinator of instructional advocacy for Tennessee Education Association, which sponsored the event.

Thompson emphasized student attendance — a central tenet of what can make the difference between passing and failing the test. “That’s why they need to be here at school and on task,” she said.

TNReady is Tennessee’s new measuring stick for student achievement and has received unprecedented attention both in Tennessee and across the nation in the wake of a failed rollout of the new online test on Feb. 8. The failure means most students will take the test more than a month late because districts now must revert to paper-and-pencil tests that must be ordered and delivered to schools.

The delay has left teachers such as Ryan Winn scrambling to restructure their lesson plans for the next month.

“We were very intentional about using material that would be directly aligned with what they would be tested. … We planned down to the minute,” said Winn, a seventh-grade math teacher at KIPP Memphis Academy Middle School. “Now we have multiple teachers who schedules have been thrown out.”

Fairley High School had developed a month-long schedule to share 150 computers among 575 students for the online test. The shift back to paper-based tests means TNReady will be completed in one week, though on a significantly delayed schedule.

“It’s been living in limbo. It’s just a different ballgame.” said principal Zach Samson of Fairley, a charter school under the state-run Achievement School District.

Emma Karpowicz, a Fairley Algebra II teacher, said the testing changes were a letdown for students, too.

“Having a clear date in mind sets it up for them. The uncertainty is confusing for them,” she said.

The new schedule for TNReady, which is administered in two parts, now means “the kids aren’t going to have as much time after spring break” to learn new material for the second part “and very little review time,” Karpowicz said. Students studying for the ACT are even more impacted as the timelines collide.

Administrators have noted the financial implications, including costs incurred to administer the test online and instructional time to teach keyboard skills. In Shelby County Schools, the price tag is about $5 million, mostly to purchase computers, according to Superintendent Dorsey Hopson.

But state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen says the online test will return next year, so technical investments won’t be wasted.