Deputy commissioner of education: Hard times ahead for area educators

On the evening before state officials released Report Card results for school systems throughout Tennessee, Deputy Commissioner of Education Robert Greene visited Dyer County to report changes made by the state in the 11th hour that will affect this year's Report Card status for both local school systems. 'It's important to know that we changed the rules in the middle of the game,' said Greene. [Click to enlarge]

And when a player changes the rules in the middle of the game, it just feels downright unfair.

Educators in Tennessee are feeling the sting of the ever-changing rules in education this week, with significant changes from the state affecting Report Card statistics a year earlier than educators anticipated.

Deputy Commissioner of Education Robert Greene met with a joint session of the Dyersburg City and Dyer County school boards at the Professional Development Center on Monday evening. Just a few hours before the state embargo was lifted from this year's Report Card findings, Greene stressed that state officials changed the rules for educators before they were prepared for them.

"I'd like to say this over and over and repeat it many times," Greene told school board representatives. "We changed the rules in the middle of the game. We changed the baseline by which we measure the gains of your students, which will affect the grades that you get. I don't want any teacher or principal who usually gets A's and B's, and suddenly gets C's and D's - or their board or their community - to think that they did not do as good a job as they did last year."

Greene said Report Card grades across the state will likely fall at least one grade because of changes on the state level, but that superintendents should still take a close look at the issues surrounding their scores.

Dyersburg City Schools report card results from the Tennessee State Department of Education website.

"As you move into a new assessment - any time you start a new game - you set a baseline," said Greene. "The first thing you do is show them where they were and then as they make changes to the program, show them what gains are made. We are in a new game. There are more difficult standards and more difficult assessments coming next year, so one thing you have to do is set a new footprint before you start the new evaluation. So we set the new footprint this year rather than next year."

Setting the new standards in the middle of the year will set school systems back this year, with Greene predicting an even tougher challenge in store for educators next year.

"You are in a tougher game now," said Greene. "The realistic thing about the future is, your superintendents, your teachers and principals are now being given more difficult standards in every grade. And the students have to get more questions right. More difficult questions and they have to get more questions right. So, you are getting hit double at the end of this year. Your testing in the current year, the report cards you get this week will be on tests and assessments that were given last spring. So your students will be taught the new standards and take another test this spring on the new standards that will be on the report card next fall."

Dyersburg City Schools TCAP writing assessment Scores (Three Year Average) from the Tennessee State Department of Education website

The challenge doesn't stop there. Educators will have one year to prepare students for the new standards, about one-third the time needed for the task.

"Now, the other thing I want you to understand is that you will have one year to teach them the standards and, ideally, you should have three. And so you can see that next year, it might happen again. Next year, you could see a decrease in your performance as far as your report cards. You've got part of it this year, you'll probably get part of it next year. That's the good side of it, you can kind of ease into it. So remember, assessments given this spring will have more difficult standards, more difficult tests, and a higher level correct to pass."

State mandates raising standards for students are an effort to graduate students better prepared for higher education and lift education standards statewide.

Dyersburg City Schools average ACT scores from the Tennessee State Department of Education website.

"We've gone through the 'why' already," said Greene. "The kids are not getting where they need to on these tests - that's what this is all about. We set a new footprint for the new assessment next year. The good news is, we've actually outperformed the old standard."

The changes in this year's baseline will not change the rules governing schools and systems failing to meet federal No Child Left Behind standards. In fact, officials in education expect more schools to fail to meet NCLB mandates as state standards rise and educators adjust to the new benchmarks.

Dyer County Schools TCAP writing assessment scores (three year average) from the Tennessee State Department of Education website.

Dyer County Schools report card results from the Tennessee State Department of Education website.

"We want to take the blame," said Greene. "We changed the rules. We set that footprint - we reset the baseline. That's what cost you this year on your report cards. The next one will hit you next year when those kids take those more difficult tests. More difficult questions on the tests, more correct questions to answer."

Dyer County Schools average ACT scores from the Tennessee State Department of Education website.