TN’s Common Core test delay disappoints, concerns Kevin Huffman

Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman says he’s disappointed and concerned by the state’s one-year delay of testing aligned with Common Core.

Under a compromise worked out by legislative leaders, Tennessee would halt its transition to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test for one year. This avoids a delay in both the exam and further implementation of the education standards for two years, which the House passed earlier this year.

Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration has expressed intentions to accept the move. A bill outlining the delay is headed to his desk.

PARCC is designed to test students on math and reading standards that have phased into Tennessee classrooms for three years. Instead, students next year will stick with the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program for end-of-course tests.

Moving to 2015-16 and beyond, the state will open a competitive bidding process to find an assessment, which could end up being PARCC.

The delay changes things dramatically for local school systems, which have been installing new technology to shift to the computer-based PARCC exam.

“I am disappointed ...” Huffman wrote in an email to Tennessee superintendents Thursday. “I think our students are as ready as students anywhere in the country for the assessment transition, and I am concerned that children in other states will have access to more advanced assessments before Tennessee children.

“At the same time, I have no doubt that with your leadership, Tennessee can continue to be the fastest improving state in the country. Our goal for students has not changed.”

Huffman, a Common Core supporter who sits on PARCC’s governing board, said the state’s Common Core summer training for teachers would continue. But he said the delay — “particularly at such a late date” — has many implications that need to be reviewed. He did not identify them.

While Huffman isn’t thrilled with the delay, some Common Core critics are equally disappointed. Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale, who had supported a Common Core rollback, called the new plan “nothing more than lipstick on a pig.”

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.