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Schools expecting decrease in grades
By Jim WozniakErwin Bureau Chief
jwozniak@johnsoncitypress.comERWIN — A higher baseline in scoring likely will lead to a reduction in grades for Unicoi County and other systems across the state on the Tennessee Report Card next month, the schools director said Wednesday.
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Email ArticleThat concerns Board of Education member Bubba Evely and Director Denise Brown, who do not want the changes to reflect badly on teachers and students.
“It’s almost assured that ... everybody’s Report Card is not going to be what it has been in past,” Evely said. “We’re trying to get the word out that ... it’s not that our kids are doing worse. It’s that the bar has been raised.”
Because of the potential negative perception, Brown invited Dan Long, director of assessment and evaluation for the Tennessee Department of Education, to Unicoi County to explain the change. Long will be at Unicoi County High School on Oct. 19 to speak to teachers and the public about the issue.
In November, the state will issue the Report Card for all school systems in Tennessee. The state is using a new grading system that is tougher than last year that likely will lead to drops in grades for schools and the system.
“A lot of people will see that as a reflection on the teachers or even on their individual child, which is not the case,” Brown said. “It’s not because the teachers are not teaching or the students are not learning.”
She compared the change to a school system moving a grade of “A” from a score of 94-100 to 97-100. A student scoring a 95 would get a B instead of an A under the new system.
There is a reason for the new baseline, Brown said.
“What basically happens is over a period of time, if you use the same test and it’s not renormed, the students in Tennessee were every year making more and more gains,” she said. “So they felt like it had to be renormed just so we can get a true picture. Plus, with the new curriculum (the state has mandated), those standards did not match the tests we had.”
School systems also might see a dip in next year’s Report Card because of new Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests for younger students and new end of course exams to replace the Gateway exams that will be taken in the spring, Brown said.
“You’ve got a new test, which is going to be a lot harder,” she said. “And the test is developed by a new company.”
Once these two years have ended, school systems should start leveling and making gains, according to Brown. Evely said all of the changes will be better for students in the long run, but “we’re going to have a transition period to the new guidelines and the curriculum that we got to teach to.”
When Long comes to Erwin, he is expected to explain what is happening and answer questions and concerns.
“The state department said from the very beginning, because they knew that this would be an issue for every school district, that they would make arrangements for Dan to come,” Brown said.
Brown said the state also plans to run public service announcements on this issue.