Third-grade families will be notified about whether their child demonstrated proficiency on the TCAP retest. Students who did not achieve proficiency will receive notification of the next steps (enrolling in summer school, finalizing attendance details for Summer Learning Academy, filing an appeal).
To keep our families as informed as possible, MSCS hosted a radio special on 88.5FM, The Voice of MSCS. The “Results Are In, Now What?” 30-minute radio special walked parents through the timeline of TCAP testing, re-testing, requirements set by the state, Summer Learning Academy, and the next steps that families can take to prepare their third graders. Watch the full “Results Are In, Now What?” special below.
NOTE: On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, Shelby County School Board members approved the rules and regulations regarding Policy 5013 with the additional guidelines for 3rd and 4th grade as outlined by the state. Therefore, current 2nd-grade students will not be held to any success criteria for retention purposes; however, academic support and intervention must continue for those students.
Memphis-Shelby County Schools identifies student achievement as its highest priority. The Literacy Commitment is a collaborative effort between schools, parents, and the community to ensure the success and reading readiness of our students.
There are two main components to the Literacy Commitment:
- Primary Grades (K-2)
- Upper Elementary (3-5)
Primary Grades
Third grade is the year that students are no longer “learning to read” but begin “reading to learn.” If students are not reading on grade level by the time they reach the third grade, half of the curriculum they will be taught for the remainder of their school years will be beyond their understanding. The former Third Grade Commitment policy (Policy 5013) called for second-grade students who were below expectation to be retained unless they attended the District’s learning loss bridge camp.
Upper Elementary
Specific revisions to Policy 5013 Promotion and Retention were developed to ensure we hold district and school leaders, teachers, and all stakeholders accountable for the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act. The Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act was established to address the learning loss of students due to COVID-19 related school closures.
Through the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, all school districts in Tennessee were required to offer learning loss remediation summer programs for students in grades K-8 that began in summer 2021.
In addition, Tennessee law has outlined student support regarding promotion and retention guidelines for the ELA portion of the TCAP test for third and fourth-grade students.
