TCAP: MSCS reading scores rebound to pre-pandemic levels, but many still below grade level

Students in Memphis-Shelby County Schools have rebounded in reading, new state testing data shows, but many students remain far behind grade-level.

Recovery in math is happening more slowly than recovery in reading and did not rebound to pre-pandemic levels for MSCS, which is also true of statewide trends across Tennessee.

As is true historically, the district scores remain below state averages.

Still, the district is encouraged by the progress made so far, during a year the superintendent and his cabinet have previously called the "hardest year that we'll ever have," largely due to the disruptions caused by two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus.

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Reading scores for MSCS third graders surged by nearly 10 percentage points, a growth of 67% from last year's low, placing the scores in line with test results from 2019. Math scores, which started out higher, plummeted during the pandemic. This year, math results aren't recouped, but third graders made even greater gains there than in reading.

Most third graders in the district, though, are scoring at the lowest levels in both subjects.

Small group instruction will be critical to closing that gap, explained Angela Whitelaw, deputy superintendent of academics, and Amie Marsh, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

"Just getting teachers and students back into those classrooms (at the start of last school year), back acclimated to the work, trying to figure out safety as well as move the instructional needle...a lot of the work that we saw, that we started to see progress, was around really focusing on small group instruction," Whitelaw said.

Whitelaw said MSCS saw gains in every grade and almost every subject compared to last year's historically low results.

The test scores on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test, known as TCAP, reflect the first in-person school year for the district since the pandemic, and provide implications for how many students could be at risk of retention under the state's new reading law for third graders, similar to the district's own policy for second grade students.

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Scores by grade and test are in a table at the end of this story.

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Within the district, testing data shows that while reading scores have rebounded, there remains a greater share of students farthest behind grade level than existed before COVID-19, as is also true statewide.

"We need to get that number down," Whitelaw said. She and Marsh explained several strategies for next year, including a new academic period for elementary and middle schoolers focused on intervention.

At 23.5%, the third grade reading scores are slightly higher than the proficiency rate in 2019 (22.8%), but remain lower than the state average of 35.7% reading on grade level.

In third grade reading, students in groups who are economically disadvantaged, are English language learners and have disabilities also rebounded to pre-pandemic proficiency rates, data show.

The number of students on grade level in these groups is lower than the district average, and the number of students farthest behind is higher than the district average, particularly for students with disabilities; while just 8.5% of these students read on level, the score is an improvement from before the pandemic, when only 5.2% of third graders were reading on grade level.

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"We feel like definitely, we are proud of the progress, and I want to point this out, but we're not satisfied," Whitelaw said, pointing out more than half of the district's students are economically disadvantaged. The district plans to continue small-group instruction for students who are struggling.

MSCS has placed emphasis on literacy rates for its youngest students, using federal stimulus dollars to provide additional adults in classrooms for kindergarten and first and second grades. District officials said Tuesday restructuring how the academic department implements curriculum changes and focusing on new teaching methods for students have been integral to recovery gains.

The state's new third grade reading law, which will take effect after this next school year, will require students who don't score proficient on the test to attend summer school and, in some cases, have a tutor in order to be promoted to fourth grade. MSCS implemented this year a similar policy of its own for second graders.

TCAP scores by grade level, subject

The next focus will be on upper grades, and implementing effective teaching strategies used in younger grades for older grades, officials said.

Scores for sixth graders in the district are particularly low across reading and math, compared to peers.

Conversely, the district said it saw one of the highest scores in a high school English course it has seen in the last five years.

Test results from 2021 for MSCS reflected what students learned during a year that was completely remote for most students. Less than half chose to return to classrooms when they opened in late spring, about a year after the district closed doors.

This year school year, while some charter schools closed, the district didn't close any of its own schools. But MSCS dealt with student and staff absences particularly during the delta and omicron waves of COVID-19, which hit at the beginning of each semester.

Superintendent Joris Ray unsuccessfully appealed the state to hold districts harmless again for the test scores this year. Accountability metrics, which will include letter grade for schools this year, are expected closer to the start of the school year in August.

Select results are below. TNReady tests are taken by students in grades 3-8. End-of-course tests, or EOC tests, are taken by students across grades, usually in high school, but are administered in lower middle school grades for students taking advanced courses.

See scores for students across Shelby County districts in the table below. Scores are available by grade for grades 3-8. Select "all grades" to view scores inclusive of all students who took the test. 

If the table does not appear, click here.

Laura Testino covers education and children's issues for the Commercial Appeal. Reach her at laura.testino@commercialappeal.com or 901-512-3763. Find her on Twitter: @LDTestino

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: MSCS TCAP reading scores rebound to pre-pandemic levels, math doesn't