formative assessments. Through these supports, there is
also an opportunity to reduce the number of assessments
implemented at the district and school levels, evaluating the quality of formative assessments and eliminating assessments that are duplicative or unnecessary.
District leaders and CORE offices should ensure that the
formative assessments districts select provide principals,
teachers, and parents with instructionally useful data.
These data must be reported in a timely manner and provide easy-to-understand information about a student’s
academic progress throughout the school year. Data reports from formative assessments should not only provide detailed information on a student’s overall academic
progress in different subjects, but the reports should also
provide detailed information about student progress on
different concepts covered within subject areas.
3. Assessment Study: Conduct a study on the landscape of
assessment in Tennessee, highlighting effective district
assessment practices and gathering information on the
amount of testing that occurs in districts around the state.
The results of this study should support movement toward
a goal of having fewer, better assessments. Over the past
several years, there has been increased discussion both
in Tennessee and around the country about the amount of
testing that occurs in schools. While this is an important
issue, it is important to more fully understand the landscape of assessment in districts throughout Tennessee
before implementing policy changes related to this issue.
For this reason, SCORE should conduct a study that aims
to provide additional insight into assessment practices in
districts and provides more comprehensive information
on the amount of testing implemented in different districts around the state. This study should highlight best
practices in assessment selection and implementation,
providing district leaders throughout Tennessee with
actionable recommendations for improved assessment
practices in their schools.
4. Community Engagement: Implement a state-level communications campaign that engages and informs the
public on the importance of high-quality, aligned assessments. As a new assessment is selected and implemented, it is important to engage and educate the public on that assessment, highlighting the importance of
high-quality, aligned assessments as well as providing
transparent information about the selected assessment to
diverse stakeholders. It is especially important to engage
parents in conversations about what a new assessment
means for their children and how a more rigorous asses ͵