Updated 10/20/21


Governor Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn said Friday that Giles County and other schools in Tennessee should not face negative consequences for how students perform on standardized tests this academic year due to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though neither Lee nor Schwinn are backing a complete suspension of state assessments or TNReady this year, the two are calling for a temporary halt of accountability measures, or for schools to be "held harmless."
The move could mean teacher evaluations would not be affected by student performance on state assessments and schools would also not be penalized, such as being flagged as a priority school, based on test results.
"We are asking our teachers to come back and teach in unorthodox ways in both in-person and virtual formats," Lee said. "It's difficult for our kids. It's particularly difficult for our teachers who are tasked with really making a miracle happen for students."
Students will still be expected to test in the spring, though some educators argue that when testing will not count for accountability, students should not test at all.