Expect More, Achieve More
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Video from official "Expect More, Achieve More" website. |
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Tennessee is raising the bar with higher academic standards in the classroom. Higher standards help make sure students are ready for a career or college. That means mastering the basics like reading and math, and developing skills that colleges and employers value —like communications, problem solving and teamwork. But higher standards also mean harder tests
— and maybe lower test scores and grades, in the near term. If your child is struggling with higher standards and harder tests, don‟t get discouraged. As a parent, it‟s time to EXPECT MORE so your child can ACHIEVE MORE.
All our students need the knowledge and skills that will equip them for a demanding global economy. That means focusing now to make sure Tennessee students are ready to succeed in high school when they get there. It‟s all about RAISING THE BAR so our students can go on to succeed in a career or college — and in life.
“Expect More, Achieve More” is a public-awareness campaign designed to reach parents of students in Grades 3 through 8 in advance of new statewide Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores being mailed to the home in mid-September. The new scores, resulting from tests administered statewide in April 2010, are the first to reflect Tennessee’s new and higher academic standards. While state officials have made no formal projections, it is widely presumed that the new scores will show a steep drop-off in student proficiency in key subjects such as reading, mathematics and language arts. This is because Tennessee’s students are being held to higher academic standards for the first time, and it may take a while for students to catch up to the more rigorous coursework.
History:
In 2007, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — representing America‟s top employers — gave Tennessee an 'F' for a lack of high standards in the classroom. A year later, Tennessee responded to the criticism by launching the Tennessee Diploma Project to raise academic standards. In 2010, Tennessee students in Grades 3 through 8 completed their first round of learning and testing under the state‟s new and higher standards.
For Parents:
Watch the mail in September. If your child is a student in Grades 3 through 8, your local school or school system will mail you the results of testing under the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). TCAP measures a child‟s knowledge in reading, language arts, math, science and social studies. If your child is rated “Basic” or “Below Basic” in any subject, he needs help. For more information, check out the Tennessee Department of Education online at www.tn.gov/education.
If your child‟s test scores or grades are slipping, consider these three steps:
- Don’t get discouraged. Test scores and grades sometimes dip when schools put in place higher standards.
- This doesn‟t mean your child is going backward in knowledge. But it does mean he needs to work harder to catch up to the higher standards, which are more demanding.
- Reassure your child that he‟s capable of doing the hard work that‟s needed to succeed.
- Ask for help. Call your child’s teacher or school and put together a plan for helping him improve.
- Parental involvement is critical to helping a child achieve more. Schedule a time to sit down with the teacher and talk through your options.
- Meeting higher standards probably means more catch-up lessons for your child at school and more homework at night. He‟ll need your support.
- Know the facts. Understand why high standards are important to your child’s future.
- Life is no longer about competing with people in the same town. Today, Tennessee students are competing with their peers in countries like Japan, China, and India.
- Times have changed. Thirty-five years ago, just 28% of U.S. jobs required training or education after high school. Today, 80% of jobs require some kind of training beyond high school.
For more information or to schedule a parent informational session, please contact the Urban League of Middle Tennessee at 615-254-0525 or ulmt@urbanleagueofmidtn.org.