TN-Ready

Bryan Terry Takes TN-Ready To Task: “The Tests Aren’t Valid”

April 25, 2018 By Admin

MURFREESBORO, April, 2018– Folks, as many of you now know, there was another debacle related to TN Ready, the statewide testing assessment. This past week, many members, including myself, took the lead in protecting students, teachers, and schools from adverse effects of the invalid assessments. Despite our efforts to hold these students, teachers and schools harmless for the failures of the system, one should know that there were and still are forces out there against these protective measures. They are for forging ahead without any track record of reliability or validity in the system and for preventing further protections from the errors in the system.

Where we were in education as a state and where we are now does lead credence to the fact that we have made some positive strides. But, unfortunately, many of those who point towards the successes have turned a blind eye to the setbacks, drawbacks, and failures of the system. Leadership is about determining our values and goals, looking towards the past to learn and build, then make choices for the future to best achieve the goals. Failed leadership is assigning blame and refusing to accept responsibility while pushing forward without adapting to address the mistakes of the past.

The current philosophy of the system is to set high Tennessee specific education standards, then to assess on a yearly basis how well our students have learned the standards. In addition, there is the belief that accountability measures for students, teacher, and schools should not only improve outcomes, but improve the validity of the assessments. Whether one agrees with the philosophy or not is another debate, but coinciding with this philosophy, Tennessee has shown growth in our educational scores. However, one must question which parts of the philosophy have had the most impact, which parts have failed, and what are any unintended or negative consequences of such a philosophy.

Every year since I have been in office, I have looked to address the failures and shortcomings of the system while making improvements for the betterment of students and teachers. Having a fair, consistent, and valid system that improves our education outcomes is as important as ensuring morale and confidence in the system improves, as well.

I have been leading and will continue to lead in this area. It was my amendment which provided legislative intent to rescind Common Core standards and provided the General Assembly with confirmation powers over the standards committee. It was me who brought the confirmation appointments to a halt when it was determined that these individuals weren’t being vetted properly.

Last summer, I spoke with a representative for some teachers in Rutherford County to discuss the results of the TN Ready assessment. From my perspective, the results were statistically impossible, yet teachers were being punished. Based on that discussion, an investigation ensued and it was determined that roughly 10,000 tests were mis-scored including those in Rutherford County. Following that, I was able to bring Commissioner McQueen to an education round table involving our Rutherford County delegation and Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City School Boards to discuss the philosophy, as well as the past, present and future of education. Subsequent to the discussion, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) provided me with a document surrounding the validity of the TN Ready assessments.

As many of you may know, I have been harping on the problems with validity in the system and that the state should have a reliable testing system prior to applying accountability measures to students, teachers, and schools. The failure of the TDOE to produce a reliable and valid assessment all the while imposing accountability measures has led to poor morale and anxiety within the education system. Until this is addressed, we will continue to see an exodus of good teachers and an uprising of students, parents, local education officials, and legislators like me.

Consequences of testing(holding students, teachers, school accountable) is a measure of evidence for validity and does or will improve the validity of the entire system. However, the other forms of evidence for validity which are test content, response processes, internal structure, and relation to other variables need to be proven prior to adding in consequences of testing. Unfortunately, that is not the philosophy of many in the position to make changes. Tennessee needs to have an actual error proof baseline of one or two years before enacting any accountability measures. The fact that we just passed a “hold-harmless” measure leads proof that our General Assembly believes the tests are invalid despite the position of the TDOE.

I am of the opinion that without a known valid baseline for comparison(relation to a known variable, response processes), that the data shouldn’t be used. Since there have been glitches and mistakes for several years, there isn’t a valid baseline. In their own report to me on validity, the TDOE pointed out that usability is a response processes that is vital to validity. Understanding that students and teachers are having problems with the platform and directions should provide evidence that the response processes for TN Ready isn’t valid. Add in that the testing problems provides proof that there isn’t consistency in the testing which invalidates relation to known variables, and you have an invalid test.

The bottom line is that if the conditions of a test are flawed, then the results of the tests are flawed. For example, if you have a free throw shooting contest, but player A shoots in a gym and player B shoots at an outside park with 30 mph winds, you can’t compare the accuracy between both shooters because conditions are different. And you can’t punish player B’s coach because he makes less free throws.

To further use the basketball analogy, we all want Tennessee students to be the best basketball players(student scores) in the country, and we want our teachers to be the best coaches and our schools to be the best teams. Providing high standards like shooting, rebound, dribbling and defensive skills while understanding team based philosophies like trapping, pressing, man to man, zones, high/ low schemes, and offensive shot selection improves outcomes compares to basic standards like “shoot if you’re open” or “stay between your man and the goal”. Additionally, providing the proper and enough equipment including basketballs, goals, and nets in an environment conducive to practicing or playing, improves the chances that the final product succeeds.

However, providing students and teachers with deflated balls while asking them to play on goals that aren’t consistently 10 feet and expecting the results of the Golden State Warriors isn’t fair to students, parents, teachers or schools. Before we take the accountability step, shouldn’t the state at least have some reliability, consistency, and validity in the system?

UPDATE

As an update to the TN Ready debacle, on the last night of Session, the House stood in unison to protect our teachers from the invalid assessments. Last week, we had passed legislation that had been supported by the TEA to hold students, teachers, and schools harmless for the scores from this year’s TN Ready testing due to multiple problems. As part of that measure, I insisted that it apply to all teachers including those using paper testing because there had been multiple problems with both online and paper tests.

However, earlier in the week, Commissioner McQueen declared. “TNReady data from 2017-18 will count for 10% of a teacher’s overall evaluation score. The legislation passed by the General Assembly last week ensures that this 10% cannot be used in making termination or compensation decisions.” While holding teachers harmless in termination and compensation decisions for an invalid test is a goal, the implication that a teacher could still have invalid measures used in an evaluation or other adverse ways was unacceptable. More action needed to be taken and we took charge.

Last night, after hours of negotiations and heated debate, we passed an amendment on HB 75 that said that “No Adverse Actions” can be taken against students, teachers, schools, or LEAs for the 2017-18 TN Ready assessments. That phrase was vital to the amendment as using invalid tests on an evaluation to go into a teacher’s file is an adverse action.

Teachers who may benefit from the assessments may include the assessment in their evaluations or they may use their qualitative observations to count for 60% instead of 50% of their evaluations. Students or schools who may benefit may use their scores if they benefit them, as well.

Applying yearly patches to address either a failed system or failed implementation of a system is not serving students, teachers, nor taxpayers in a sensible capacity. Under the given circumstances, this amendment may have been the best feasible option for the year, but having eight months until the 111th session begins should give the next administration and General Assembly the opportunity to present a long term solution.

Just my two cents,

Rep. Bryan Terry

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Rep. Bryan Terry: Update on 2017 TN-Ready Testing

May 30, 2017 By Admin

In recognition of Antibiotic Awareness Week, Rep. Bryan Terry, MD teaches students about antibiotics at Central Magnet High School in Murfreesboro.

NASHVILLE, May 30, 2017– As many students and parents know by now, the TN Ready test scores will not be factored into the grades of Rutherford County students this year. When the news came out, there were some upset parents, students, and teachers. I’ve received some questions about the situation, and did some research on the issue. There are still some questions, but hopefully, I can provide some useful information. The article in the Tennessean provides some info on the issue, as well.

First, as you may know, I ran a bill that required the TN Dept. Of Education to put forth a report on the validity of evaluations. With TN Ready scores as a metric in the computing of the evaluations, the tests have a direct impact and must be as valid as possible. Testing can be correlated with improved outcomes, however, the tests really cannot be proven to be a completely valid measure, especially in the first year.

There are five forms of evidence for validity:

Evidence based on test content:
Evidence based on response processes:
Evidence based on internal structure:
Evidence based on relations to other variables:
Evidence based on consequences of testing:

Transparency and history of testing can improve items 1, 3, and 4. Without a baseline test, it is difficult to know whether the test content, the structure of the test, or the consistency of the test is valid. For these reasons, honestly, I wouldn’t want this year’s TN Ready to count on my child’s grade. It really shouldn’t count against teachers or schools, either. That being said, consequences of testing, such as the scores actually counting for a grade, will improve the validity of the test and evaluation. Even if the scores don’t count this year, the fact that students believed that the scores were going to count should improve long term validity of the process.

Response processes has to do with behaviors, attitudes, effort, and confidence in the testing. Many of these factors are beyond the control of the teachers such as whether or not the student tries on the test, had breakfast, parents are divorcing, etc. In addition, as I have said before, perception is reality, and the perception is that the TN Ready test isn’t actually ready and parents, students and teachers are losing confidence in the system……if there was any confidence to begin with.

Last session and this session, I had conversations with the TDOE about these issues, my concerns, and the concerns of many constituents. The bottom line is that a good idea executed poorly results in a bad outcome. We can debate about whether the testing and evaluations are a good idea or not, but the perception, as well as the reality, is that there has been poor execution of the testing process. Understanding the failings of the process and correcting the problems are of utmost importance if the state expects to have student, teacher and school improvement.

Based on some of the media reports, it appears as if the TDOE is shifting the responsibility to LEAs, while LEAs are pointing to the state or the testing vendor for the testing issue this year. The TDOE sent me the following response:

All of the department’s timelines are on track.
In February, we shared with superintendents that scores would be available beginning the week of May 22 if they submitted their testing materials by the deadlines published by our assessment vendor, Questar, and communicated by the department.
Test scores are scored on a “first in first out” basis. Scores will be available on a rolling basis as they are processed by Questar.
The overall timeline is similar to what districts have experienced in the past. Scores are usually available 2-3 weeks after the close of the testing window, which was on May 5.
Pursuant to Chapter 256 of the Public Acts of 2015, districts may choose to exclude students’ test scores from the student’s grade if scores are not received at least five instructional days before the end of the school year.

While this is a positive response with some explanations, there are several more questions that arise. Based on the response, one can infer that LEAs were given a window to give the tests, and it is my understanding that they were given a 3 week window. Secondly, one can infer that the state knew or expected many of the tests, especially those administered late in the testing window, to not be graded in time so they could be used as part of a student’s final grade. Finally, if some students were tested at the start of the 3 week window, while students in other parts of the state are tested later, aren’t those later students and teachers being afforded extra prep time for the test?

I followed up again with the TDOE on the issue. The TDOE stated that they wanted to give the LEAs the flexibility on when to administer the tests, as well as allow districts the ability to hold their report cards until the scores were returned, if they wished. In my opinion, Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City schools, by testing later, afforded their students and teachers a better opportunity to perform better on the test. It is, also, my opinion that it was prudent to not include the TN Ready test scores due to the above mentioned validity concerns.

In addition to the timing problem, one of my biggest complaints has been the communication breakdown on the testing process. The TDOE informed me that parents and LEAs were provided with information, several times, about this year’s TN Ready. HERE is the link they provided. While this link is fairly informative, I’m still not sure many parents or teachers ever saw or reviewed the information.

I asked, “What is being done to ensure the tests are returned in time next year?” The response was as follows:

“We anticipate online testing will improve timelines. Currently, we are losing at least 7-10 days of potential scoring time with shipping and delivery, and that is a time-consuming process for districts, as well. It can be longer if there are issues with shipping, such as bad weather, a delivery truck breaking down, missed pick-up dates, not having enough labels, etc. In addition, we, now, need to hand-score parts of the assessment, which necessitates having testing documents back as soon as possible. Online assessment means the student responses are immediately available to score.

While we believe we were clear and communicated multiple times that raw scores would be available in late May, we will strive to ensure everyone is clear on that timeline next year and make any process adjustments that are needed to help the raw score return process go more smoothly.”

I know this information won’t change what has already occurred, but my constituents, parents, teachers and, most importantly, students need to know that someone is at the Capitol holding people accountable and fighting to improve the situation.

The end result of my bill was an agreement with the TDOE and the TEA to provide a report on the evaluation process which will review the past problems, discuss the intent, and provide information on changes. Hopefully, it will help students, parents, teachers and LEAs to better understand the process, problems, and changes while allowing for feedback. It is a government of, by, and for the people, and my aim is to ensure “we the people” have that voice.

With Liberty,

Rep. Bryan Terry

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Rep. Bryan Terry’s Capitol Hill Update: Week of February 15

February 21, 2016 By Admin

NASHVILLE, February 21, 2016– Check out Rep. Bryan Terry’s latest updates from Capitol Hill.

Check out my latest weekly updated from the Capitol! Please SHARE to help me keep out community informed!

Posted by Dr. Bryan Terry on Sunday, February 21, 2016

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Rep. Terry Update: Common Core, TN-Ready & School Choice

February 17, 2016 By Bryan Terry

Murfreesboro, Tenn., February 17, 2016 – We are one month into the 2016 session and a lot has occurred. Education issues have been on the minds of many constituents including students, parents, and teachers. From vouchers to repealing Common Core to over-testing of students to transparency, I have spoken with a multitude of constituents with concerns. This past week, I met with Governor Haslam and we spoke for about an hour on various topics, but mostly over education. I wanted to take the time to give my district some insight into the effort that has been put forth in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Perhaps, the most controversial piece of legislation was the Opportunity Scholarship bill which was otherwise known as vouchers. The bill was supported by Governor Haslam who explained to me his view on the issue was that while vouchers may not be the answer to education, they can be a piece of the puzzle to improve our education outcomes. Ultimately, the sponsor of the bill “laid the bill on the table” on Thursday when he said that he didn’t feel comfortable that he had enough votes to pass the bill. In all likelihood, the bill is dead for this session.

For me, the two week experience leading up to and including the day of the vote was nothing like I had ever experienced. I will say that throughout the process, I have been very disappointed in the actions of some, yet very encouraged by the actions of others. These actions intensified during the final two weeks and hit a crescendo on the day of the vote. When the bill was first introduced last year, I began a process of gathering information to have the most informed vote I could have. I feel confident in saying that those on both sides of the issue that understood my efforts know that I did my best to address the concerns sent to me and I gave my best effort for the district, but in the end, I never had to vote on the issue.

The statewide computer system to administer the student assessment, TNReady, crashed on the day initial testing was to take place. Teachers had voiced their frustrations to me prior to the testing and in fact, reiterated their concerns when I met with the REA in late January. I have been 100% on the side of students, parents, and teachers with their concerns about TNReady and the online platform. In my discussion with Governor Haslam, I reiterated those concerns. Our students, parents, and teachers need to know that their concerns are being delivered to the Capitol. Not only have I been delivering the message verbally, I have filed, as well as co-sponsored, legislation to hopefully address or, at least, voice the concerns.

Last year, the hottest education topic revolved around Common Core. Essentially, three bills were filed in 2015. When I speak of my principles, process, and passion, part of the process involves determining the most feasible option. When one identifies the best option, one must work to improve that option to best meet one’s goal. Only HB1035 by Rep. Billy Spivey was a feasible option to address concerns about Common Core. The other two bills never got out of committee. HB 1035 was an imperfect solution, but it was the best and only viable option to enact change.

Knowing that the bill was imperfect, I developed some amendments to the bill. During my work, I found some like-minded allies in Representatives Matthew Hill, Timothy Hill, and Micah Van Huss. We worked as a coalition in conjunction with Rep. Spivey and presented our concerns to Leadership, the Governor and his staff, as well as Commissioner McQueen. Not all of our concerns were met at the time, but we were able to amend the bill to add legislative confirmation of the ten member committee, as well as get language in the bill that rescinds the Common Core standards when the new standards are complete.

Having a voice from the district in the form of legislative confirmation was an absolute that I needed to address. The ten members have been appointed by Governor Haslam, Lt. Gov. Ramsey, and Speaker Harwell. I have had people reviewing the members, as well as the new standards. We are in the process of developing questions for the confirmation hearings.

During our meetings, we discussed addressing the concerns over Islam in our public schools, as many concerns have cropped up in the state. While we were unable to find a solution last year, we continued to work on the issue. Rep. Matthew Hill has filed HB 1905 that focuses on four areas: transparency, local input, no indoctrination, and constitutionality. I am a prime co-sponsor of the bill. Rep. Sheila Butt filed a bill, that focuses on this issue, as well. I have been in contact with her during the process. We are all working together and plan to coordinate our efforts to address these concerns.

Last year, I co-sponsored HB 1089 by Rep. Kevin Dunlap to address transparency in our standardized testing. The bill would have allowed parents and teachers to see what and how our students were being tested. Parents should have the right to know what is being asked of their children, and teachers should have the right to know specifics on their evaluations. The bill ultimately received a 17 million dollar fiscal note due to copyright issues, thus it failed.

Following the 2015 end of year testing, I received several complaints from concerned citizens over what many believe to be biased questioning towards Islam, as well as concerns from teachers over a lack of transparency. I knew that parents and teachers were unable to view the test, so I made an effort to see if I, as a State Representative, could view the test, and I was denied. It is very concerning, that if I am elected to speak on behalf of constituents including teachers, that I am unable to obtain necessary information to best find solutions. I am talking with Rep. Dunlap and Rep. Byrd, and we hope to be able to find a method of addressing this issue.

Knowledge is part of the foundation for the future of our students, and our parents and teachers deserve to be in the best position for the nurturing and growth of students. I will continue to work hard on these issues as representative for District 48.

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