NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Moving on to the next grade is exciting for elementary school students, but 60% of Tennessee third-graders still don't know if they'll move up this fall.
For the first time ever, students can be held back if they don't do well enough on their TCAP reading assessment.
The state Department of Education released test results to districts on Friday. Districts are still sending out scores. So far, the state has released publicly that 13% of third-grade students exceeded expectations, 27% met expectations, 35% are approaching the expectation and 27% fell below expectations.
There are just a few days left in the school year. The last week of school started out with difficult news for most Tennessee families with third-graders.
Katherine Bike's 9-year-old didn't pass the standardized test. If he doesn't score better on a retest, get a tutor or go to summer school, he'll be forced to repeat third grade.
"He is a great example of a child who has been given so much and has a huge support system and still didn't pass this test," Bike said.
Bike also represents District 4 on the Knox County Board of Education. She fought against the retention law that has put her son in this position.
"I've tried to just be encouraging and positive, and say it's going to be OK, we'll figure it out. But he has been so so stressed, and it's been really really terrible," Bike said.
Billy Kilgore's son passed the test. He attends a Metro Nashville Public School. Kilgore explained he and his wife were hesitant to celebrate the results with their son because they don't want him to think it's the only thing that matters.
"We shared that he did well and succeeded, but at the same time, we didn't want to put all this emphasis on this one test and make him feel like the stakes would be super high on it in the future for it," said Billy Kilgore.
At this point, some parents only know that their students failed and not what they need to do next. Exact scores matter because the closer the student can read at grade level the more options they have to prove they're ready for fourth grade.
