Clay County Schools will have additional time to prepare students for TCAP testing after receiving a 15-day extension from the state due to January school closures.
The state has granted similar extensions to several other counties that were heavily impacted by the ice storm. School Board Chairman Benji Bailey said the extension will help both teachers and students recover valuable classroom time lost during the weather-related closures.
“It’s very important,” Bailey said. “It gives our teachers and our students additional time to prepare, make up for that lost time in the classroom. At the end of the day, it’s such a big part of what the state’s looking at as far as an evaluation of our system and evaluation of our teachers and evaluation of our students.”
Bailey said school officials were concerned that the missed time might impact TCAP scores this year. Bailey said while winter weather closures are often welcomed by students, the missed instructional time can make it difficult for schools to stay on track academically.
“Unfortunately, as much as everyone likes to be out and be off for snow, there’s a lot of lost classroom time that’s difficult to make up,” Bailey said. “So I think we’re thankful, and I’m sure several other school systems are thankful as well for this opportunity to be able to push these testing windows back.”
During the storm, Bailey said many families across the county were dealing with more immediate concerns, including power outages and storm damage, making the extension especially meaningful for the community.
“There were several of our folks without power for a number of days, especially in the west end of our county, but all throughout our county, it was a difficult time,” Bailey said. “School was the last thing on a lot of folks’ minds, but that doesn’t relieve us from the responsibility to educate our kids as best that we can.”
With testing season approaching, Bailey said teachers and students are now focused on making the most of the additional preparation time.
“We want to prepare as best we can, and our teachers are working really hard, and our students are still focused on knowing what’s ahead of them,” Bailey said. “It’s just an opportunity to learn and reflect on what they have learned so far and put it to paper.”
Students were originally scheduled to complete the TCAP English language arts exam and the English end-of-course (EOC) test during the first week of testing, beginning April 13. Exams can now be administered through April 24 under the extended testing window.
High school students take end-of-course assessments in several subjects beyond English, and the state has extended the deadline for those exams from May 5 to May 8. Middle school students, who take TCAP tests in science, math, and social studies in addition to English language arts, will also have until May 8 to complete those assessments.
Elementary students have also been given additional time, with the deadline for non-ELA TCAP tests moved from May 1 to May 6.
In other business, the board approved a trip request for the Clay County High School FBLA to Chattanooga for the State convention on April 7-9.