Warren TCAP Scores Indicate 66 Percent Of Third Graders Did Not ELA Proficiency

66 percent of Warren County third graders did not meet proficiency expectations on their English Language Arts TCAP testing.

Director of Schools Grant Swallows said they are trying to work with that 66 percent on the avenues they can take to fix it. He said his frustration with the third-grade retention law is that the TCAP testing is not a good indicator of overall student success because it is a one-time look with high-pressure stakes.

“I’m always big on talking about process over product so we in Warren County have tried to focus on that process,’ What can we do to improve our process to help our third-grade students get to where they need to be,'” Swallows said. “So we’re trying not to place a whole lot of emphasis on the product, which is that one TCAP test.”

Swallows said while they are trying to not emphasize the test so strongly, the third-grade retention law is forcing their hand. He said that has led to a lot of frustration with teachers, with parents, and with students.

Swallows said they are seeing success with the retake exam and they hope to continue to take that seriously. He said at the end of the day, this is a multi-faceted effort to get students where they need to be both from the school’s side and from the family’s side.

“The student wins because it’s the family working at home to help the student and the school system at school working to help the student,” Swallows said. “And really when we can put those supports in place that will really work.”

Swallows said they are working to calm nerves and express that there are options for students going forward. He said they are proud of the gains they made since last year, and will continue to work on improvements.