Only 40% of Tenn. third-graders ready for fourth grade, Dept. of Education says

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Only 40% of Tennessee third-graders were ready for the fourth grade, according to the Tennessee Department of Education. That number comes from TCAP data released Monday.

A new Tennessee law meant that third-graders who scored below “proficient” on the TCAP will need to take some extra steps before moving on to the fourth grade. According to the state’s data, 60% of students did not meet the threshold to move on to the next grade without taking summer classes or retaking an end-of-year English and language arts (ELA) test.

Locally, about 1,600 third-graders inside Knox County Schools failed the ELA section of the TCAP, according to officials with the school system.

KCS Spokeswoman Carly Harrington said there are 4,461 students currently enrolled in third grade in the district. That means almost 36% of the students failed to meet the requirement to move on, just above the state average.

“Parents and guardians of students who qualified were notified this evening and will have until the evening of Sunday, May 21 to opt-in for a retake test,” Harrington said. “While KCS did not receive testing data from TDOE until late today, we are grateful for the hard work and preparation of our staff to be able to process the information and communicate with our third-grade families as quickly as possible.”

Previous Coverage: Knox Co. parents react to TCAP testing results for third-graders

Now, parents of students who did not meet the mark are left looking for solutions. Those solutions come in the form of summer school, a challenging option for those with summer plans, or banking on a retake test, scheduled for Tuesday, May 23.

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