(NASHVILLE) — State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) is fighting to address another round of issues associated with the state’s TNReady testing system.
The latest problems plaguing TNReady’s online testing platform occurred this week and have frustrated parents, teachers, and school superintendents while also placing unnecessary stress on students.
The most significant development took place on Tuesday when the Department of Education reported that the current vendor who administers the test experienced a cyber-attack on its computer system. Additionally, many students in school districts across Tennessee were unable to log into or complete their tests both the day before and after this attack.
TN Ready tests are vitally important to students, teachers, and schools across Tennessee because they count for large portions of final student grades as well as final teacher evaluations and school rankings.
As soon as the legislators learned of the problems on Tuesday, they immediately called in the Department of Education and the TBI to learn what was going on. The also told the commissioner that they wanted her and Questar to appear before the House Education and Government Operations Committees jointly in the morning, and crafted and passed legislation to immediately help with the issue.
Thursday afternoon the Senate presented their own legislation to the House. The differences between the two bills will be settled over the weekend. Both bills address the issues of having the test scores count towards teachers’ evaluations and students’ final grades; holding each of these groups harmless in the wake of the system’s widespread failures.
While this important step begins to address the latest difficulties associated with testing, Representative Lynn looks forward to working with her colleagues in the coming days to find additional solutions that will prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
“It is extremely disappointing that we have experienced yet another year of problems related to our state’s standardized testing system,” said Representative Lynn. “I want our students, parents, teachers, and superintendents to know that we are working to resolve these ongoing problems. I believe we must have a system that is reliable and accurate. No teacher or student should be penalized for unforeseen circumstances like those that have taken place this week.”
Susan Lynn serves as the Chairman of the House Consumer & Human Resources Subcommittee. Lynn is also a member of the House Consumer & Human Resources, House Finance Ways & Means, and House Ethics Committee, as well as the Joint Fiscal Review Committee. She lives in Mount Juliet and represents House District 57, which includes Wilson County. Lynn can be reached by email at Rep.Susan.Lynn@capitol.tn.gov or by calling (615) 741-7462.
