Memphis teachers union calls on Tennessee to invalidate TNReady over scoring errors

The incorrect scoring of state tests for more than a thousand Memphis students was the last straw for one of the city’s two major teacher unions.

The United Education Association of Shelby County called on Tennessee Monday to invalidate test scores statewide in light of news that its testing vendor incorrectly scored nearly 10,000 tests due to a programming error.

During a morning news conference, the union also called for a moratorium until 2021 on using the TNReady test in its accountability system. In addition, union leaders urged state lawmakers to hold public hearings on the state’s testing challenges.

From the State Capitol, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell called Monday for a hearing in Nashville on the matter.

“We have made great strides over the last several years in education, and we must be diligent in ensuring we continue these gains,” Harwell said in a statement. “We know that accountability has been a large part of this improvement. However, the news that nearly 10,000 TNReady tests were scored incorrectly has resulted in educators, parents, and legislators seeking answers.”

Test scores and how they measure student growth are critical components of Tennessee’s new accountability system under the new federal education law. In many districts, teacher pay and evaluations also hinge on test scores.

“This is the third year in a row that we’ve experienced issues regarding TNReady, which leads us to have zero confidence in TNReady, Commissioner McQueen and the Tennessee Department of Education,” said Shelby County UEA President Tikeila Rucker on behalf of the union’s 2,000 members.

State officials report that the errors make up less than 1 percent of high school end-of-course tests statewide, and that score results for grades 3-8 are correct and final. Less than 1,700 of Tennessee’s 1.9 million TNReady exams will receive a different performance level score as a result of the corrected scores, according to spokeswoman Sara Gast of the Department of Education.

“For the most part, students’ scores do not meaningfully change,” Gast said Monday.

But Rucker worried that the problem may be more widespread.

“It’s as if you had a piece of pie, and I find a piece of glass in it,” she said. “But I cut somebody else a piece of that same pie and assure you ‘You don’t have glass in yours.’ Are you going to trust me and eat that piece of pie knowing that there’s a piece of glass in mine?”

Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson and school board chair Shante Avant also spoke at the press conference.

“We stand in solidarity with our teachers. We know the (state) Department of Education is working very hard,” Hopson told reporters. “But given the high-stakes nature of the test, we just want to be accurate. And when they’re not accurate, it just casts a cloud of doubt over the whole process.”

Hopson stopped short of calling for test scores to be invalidated. “I wouldn’t necessarily jump to that conclusion,” he said, “but I do agree with our teaching colleagues that the results need to be accurate and timely.”

Tennessee has been beset by testing challenges since the 2016 launch of TNReady, including the test’s cancellation for grades 3-8 due to an online snafu in its first year. The second year of testing appeared to go better, and the state has been releasing scores gradually over the summer and fall. The scoring problem affecting 33 districts was revealed late last week in an email from Assistant Education Commissioner Nakia Towns to district superintendents and directors statewide.

Gast said all 33 districts have received their corrected scores. In East Tennessee, for instance, Maryville City Schools saw a 7 percent increase in the number of students who scored “on track” or “mastered” once they received corrected scores, according to The Daily Times.

Tennessee signed its $30 million contract with Questar in July 2016 after firing Measurement Inc. due to the botched rollout of TNReady.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from a state spokeswoman.