Governor Bill Lee will give his first State of the State it will signal to the state the administration’s priorities for the immediate future.
State of the State Expectations 2019

~Writings, Musings, Thoughts and Wit~
Governor Bill Lee will give his first State of the State it will signal to the state the administration’s priorities for the immediate future.
Are tests in our schools making the grade? JC Bowman from the Professional Educators of Tennessee joins us for an in- depth conversation about challenges with current grade assessment tests and TNReady. Interview. Listen to iHeart Radio, Tennessee Matters here.
Link: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1021-Tennessee-Matters-28732380/episode/tennessee-matters-29762167/
We can and should discuss the value that assessments can provide. We must also discuss how the emphasis on testing is missing the bigger issue: student academic growth measured by flawed testing. Then the results being used in educator evaluations. This is certainly more problematic to educators than the actual tests themselves.
JC Bowman writes: the emphasis on testing misses the bigger issue: student academic growth measured by flawed testing. Then the results being used in educator evaluations. This is certainly more problematic to educators than the actual tests themselves.
Testing has taken a wrong turn in public education. JC Bowman of Professional Educators of Tennessee offers solutions for Tennessee.
We look forward to continuing the dialogue with policymakers and working with all stakeholders toward creating a better framework for both educator evaluation and student assessment in Tennessee.
The 2018 TNReady student assessment results showed mixed results, but state leaders saw encouraging areas of progress, and we celebrate that success. The majority of the 650,000 students who took the assessment this year did so on paper, but about 300,000 students took the test online. Students improved most in early grades reading, and narrowed achievement gaps. In addition, the results show a need for deeper, more sustained work to support improvement.
The Tennessee Department of Education announced changes include rebidding the testing contract, refining the current Questar contract, revising timeline for online testing, and engaging more teachers.
The edge of chaos is a space between order and disorder. For some, creativity is often found at the edge of chaos. In 2009, neuroscientists stated that evidence is emerging which suggests that operating at the edge of chaos may drive our brain’s astonishing capabilities. In fact, our complex brains may thrive on the chaotic. [...]
“If you don’t understand — from the school district to the superintendents — that we want our teachers held harmless, then I’m sorry, you’re tone-deaf,” said State Representative Eddie Smith.