{"id":16334,"date":"2020-06-06T12:45:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-06T17:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=16334"},"modified":"2020-06-05T22:24:52","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T03:24:52","slug":"tennessee-department-of-education%e2%80%afannounces-innovative-assessment-supports-for-2020-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2020\/06\/06\/tennessee-department-of-education%e2%80%afannounces-innovative-assessment-supports-for-2020-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Department of Education\u202fannounces Innovative Assessment Supports for 2020-21"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeNashville, TN<\/strong> – The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE)\u202fhas announced a suite of free, optional assessment supports for the 2020-21 school year, which will be available to all districts this fall.<\/p>\n

These supports are part of the department\u2019s innovative assessment initiative as described in the Best for All strategic plan.  <\/p>\n

\"Free,<\/a>

Free, optional, high-quality assessment tools will support schools and districts in identifying and addressing student needs early in the school year<\/p><\/div>\n

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With many students missing academic instructional time, and canceled spring assessments due to COVID-19 Coronavirus school building closures, it is critical that educators and schools can identify student progress early and receive actionable data for the upcoming year.\u202f <\/p>\n

“As part of the department\u2019s Best for All strategic plan, we have been working to develop a suite of free and optional innovative assessment supports to empower our educators with better, earlier insights into student progress,\u201d said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the COVID-19 pandemic forced prolonged school building closures and canceled spring assessments, it became even more important that districts and schools can reliably gather student data and understand student readiness for the next school year. These free and optional tools are one more way the department can support the needs of our district partners in serving all students,\u201d Schwinn stated.<\/p>\n

All Tennessee districts and schools can request these optional tools at no charge.\u202fDirectors will receive more information on requesting these resources later this summer. Each of these free, optional assessments may be administered in the mode most convenient for the educators, via paper and online, increasing flexibility for districts. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am really pleased that the department has taken the initiative in providing the necessary assessment tools at no cost to school districts. This has been a critical missing component for so many school districts as we have all navigated a new, if not uncertain accountability landscape,\u201d said Dr. Donna Wright, Director of Wilson County Schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cEquitable access to a standards-aligned assessment tool will be the difference maker for many school districts in identifying and charting student progress.  Educators will benefit from the flexibility in the use of these innovative assessment tools, but the greater benefit will ultimately be for our students,\u201d Wright stated.<\/p>\n

The three optional tools available to districts for free later this year will be a Start of the Year Checkpoint, an Online Formative Assessment Platform and TCAP Item Bank, and Full-length \u201cMock\u201d Interim Assessments.  <\/p>\n

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Start of the Year\u202fCheckpoint:\u202f\u202f <\/strong><\/p>\n