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Third Grade Retention Law in Action | The deadlines, details, and discussions about what's next

Everything your family needs to know about the TCAP test scores, and how they could affect your child's future.

Katelyn Keenehan, WBIR Staff

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Published: 10:59 PM EDT May 8, 2023
Updated: 2:03 PM EDT May 30, 2023

This is the first year the controversial third-grade retention law will be in action. The rollout of the law has sparked heated conversations between lawmakers, education activists, parents and school districts across the state.

There's still quite a bit of uncertainty about what this rollout will look like. However, the Tennessee Department of Education, alongside local school districts, has painted a picture of the plan. 

Students across Tennessee spent time from April 18 to May 5 participating in the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Students can "exceed," "meet," "approach" or be "below expectations" on the test.

According to last year's test scores, only the state found just 36.4% of Tennessee students are meeting grade-level expectations in ELA. 

The new third-grade retention law seeks to retain students who are not meeting grade-level expectations. That means those students would have to retake the third grade.

There's a lot on the line for third-graders, who took the TCAP this year.

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