NASHVILLE (WATE) - Officials announced Tuesday that statewide student performance on the 2012 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) improved for the second year in a row.
Gov. Bill Haslam told the gathering that included House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Education Committee Chair Delores Grisham that students reached higher levels of proficiency in 23 of 24 TCAP achievement tests in grades three through eight.
Haslam touted teachers as the reason for the uptick in the TCAP scores. When asked what the gains can be attributed to, he laughed and said, "Leadership, no question."
For the first time this year, TCAP scores will be 35% of a teacher's evaluation in subjects that are tested like math, reading and English.
"The continued success of students is a testament to how much work Tennessee teachers have done in the classroom," Haslam said in a prepared statement.
"The growth we've seen on statewide assessments over the past two years is an impressive start, and shows that we are on the right track," said state Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman.
TCAP results show that after two years of steady increases, half of students in grades three through eight were reading at grade level or above during the 2011-12 school year.
Also, 47 percent of students scored proficient or advanced in math, about 55,000 more than were on grade level two years ago. More than 60 percent of students were proficient or advanced in science, 38,000 more students than in 2010.
In high school, more than half of students scored proficient or advanced in English I, English II, Algebra I, biology and history for the first time since Tennessee raised its standards three years ago.
"It's very encouraging that we are seeing growth in student performance," said Tennessee Education Association President Gera Summerford, whose group has sometimes been at odds with the Haslam Administration.
"I hope that it also shows that we are also seeing growth in what we call 'value-added' and how we measure our teachers," added Summerford, a math teacher from Sevier County.
The "value-added" aspect of the scores, which comes from yearly growth of students through the testing, will come out when TCAP scores for individual districts are released sometime in July.
Both the governor and the education commissioner acknowledged there's much more work to do to raise student standards.
Huffman said their goal is to grow three percent to five percent in every category each year.
Knox County Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre released a statement that says, "After the move to significantly higher academic standards and a focused effort to enhance public education, the state of Tennessee is demonstrating solid progress in academic achievement. While district results will not be released until July, Tennessee's overall educational progress is encouraging."
Jamie Woodson, president and CEO of the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), said, "While we have a long way to go before every student graduates high school prepared for college or the workforce, Tennessee is making progress. This is a moment to celebrate."
