New Level of Stress on Teachers from New TNReady

Assessment
By: Kordell Young

Chief Academic Officer of Knox County, Elizabeth Alves presenting the TNReady
Assessment.

A new standardized test was approved by the Knox County School Board October 19th
called TNReady. This test provides students grade 3-12 a different way to be tested on their core
education standards. According to a presentation given by the Chief Academic Officer of Knox
County Schools, Elizabeth Alves, the TNReady test will be online in
attempt to keep up with the every growing technological advances of the
world today.
In an earlier presentation the Director of Planning and Improvement,
Christy Hendler, gave statistics on the anxiety of teachers and the stress of
students about old standardized tests such as the TCAP and the EOC.
According to Hendler, 88.6 percent of teachers felt anxious about the
performance of their students on the old tests. In response to hearing that
number, Knox County Board of Education Member
Knox County Board of
Education Member
Terry Hill said that she was not surprised, and that she
Terry Hill expressing
has had many teachers tell the board about their stress.
concerns about
She also says
that since TNReady will be implemented that she feels
teachers' voices being
the teachers voices are being heard by the decision makers.

When asked about her opinion on the high percentage of anxious teachers, local English
teacher at Central High School, Andrea Turner stated, If anything, I would suggest that
this percentage is an underestimate. In the past, much of this anxiety came
from the misalignment of curriculum/standards to the "old" TCAP. We were
teaching TNCore standards while our students were being given an
"outdated" assessment. Our only practice materials for this exam were
practice tests and item samplers that had not been updated in over three
years. Another major issue with these practice materials is that roughly 1/4
of the sample questions in English were irrelevant because they assessed
standards that had been "dropped" from the curriculum. Additionally,
teachers were never allowed access to previous assessments for reflection
and future preparation.

Turner was asked if she believes that the new TNReady test will in fact
alleviate the stress from teachers, and she said that she felt the anxieties will
only be partially alleviated. Turner says her, new arena of anxiety, comes
from the Board of Educations decision to no longer count TNReady quick
scores towards students final class averages. This means that these
students' raw scores will still be counted for 15-30 percent of the teachers
overall evaluation as educators. She continues, My students will now take
(for English II) over 300 total minutes of assessment more difficult and
rigorous than any they have previously experienced, knowing that their
scores will not be counted for or against their class averages.
Turner ends with, I am optimistic that in time, it can become less
stressful. For now, our students are being asked to perform on a much higher
level than ever in previous years. I love my job and my students and will be
the first say that each one is capable of great achievement. However, my
current 10th graders have been taught under a hodge-podge of curriculum
and standards over their academic journey and the full transition of rigor and
standards will take time.
While some members of the board such as Terry Hill, feel that the
teachers have been heard, and will now be able to relieve a little of their
anxieties about high stakes tests, some teachers such as Andrea Turner, feel
that TNReady will add a different kind of anxiety because of the new level of
rigor the students must go through.
For more information on TNReady go to
www.tennessee.gov/education/topic/tnready

Audio of an Interview with the

Cheif Acedemic Officer
Elizabeth Alves