TCAPS

TCAPS are the aptitude tests in Tennessee, and they start in 3rd grade.

This summer I went to a PTA meeting sponsored by the state PTA and I heard some really startling statistics. Tennessee is so far behind the rest of the country in education. I wasn't surprised to hear that, I was surprised to hear how bad it really was though. So, the state is trying to get us up to the rest of the country, which means the TCAPS this past year were going to be way harder then before.

There was a massive campaign since April, when the kids took the test, to inform parents that they shouldn't be alarmed when they got their childrens results in September. If your child was advanced before, he/she may now be proficient, or below, but not to be concerned.

Being that this was Andrew's first time taking the TCAPS I wasn't really concerned with his scores, I had nothing to compare them to, so why would I be worried.

He brought them home the other day. I opened them and was SHOCKED! Keep in mind, all we have heard from the Governor, TN Senators, the Superintendant, was that these scores will probably be lower.

The first scores I saw were reading and language arts, Andrew is proficient. No big shock there. Andrew hates to read, which means his language art skills are lacking as are his spelling skills. (That however is another whole rant. Do you know that they aren't teaching spelling anymore. As long as what the child can write is phonetically correct it isn't marked wrong! HELLO????)

Then came the math scores...advanced. Science...advanced. Social Studies...advanced.

What?

I knew that Andrew was smart, and advanced in math, he scored way higher then the average in his class in the CBM scores, and was asked to be in Math Olympiad. But again, all I heard all summer was that these scores would be low.

I am so proud of him! I emailed his teacher from last year thanking her for being such a great teacher too. Outstanding teachers are hard to come by, but he has had some great ones, and I wanted her to know that I appreciated her last year.

Next up: 8 friends everyone should have to stay healthy.