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Tennessee panel reviews Praxis, Pearson and alternate assessment options and vendor challenges
Summary
Tennessee Department of Education staff reviewed the state's assessment landscape — Praxis (ETS), Pearson, ALTA and other options — and discussed new vendor products (Praxis Bridge, Pearson Flex, series essentials), operational issues with at‑home testing, and questions about how new options would affect pass-rate reporting and processing.
Tennessee Department of Education staff walked committee members through the current content-assessment landscape, vendor options and implementation questions for licensure and endorsement pathways.
Taylor Reed, senior director of educator licensure at the Tennessee Department of Education, summarized available vendors and programs: "We have ETS, who is the vendor for our Praxis assessments. And those are the majority of the content assessments... We also have Pearson who has, not only the edTPA, but the national evaluation series for content assessments. And then for our foreign languages, we use the ALTA program." Reed emphasized that Tennessee uses vendor-recommended cut scores and currently does not accept other states' assessments in lieu of Tennessee's required assessments.
New vendor opportunities and practical implications
- ETS / Praxis options: Reed said some states adopt a standard error of measurement to treat near-miss scores as passing; ETS has a new "Praxis Bridge" professional-development option in early rollout. Reed warned that Praxis Bridge currently does not produce updated score reports and that adopting it would have processing implications: "Candidates are then able to access that material... they are not provided a new score report because the actual score on the assessment itself does not change."
- Pearson options: Reed described Pearson's offerings as including a "free after 3" model (testing free after a third attempt on series assessments), a "flex" portfolio option where candidates can submit original work scored by expert reviewers, "right start" self‑paced modules, and "series essentials" that split assessments by domain so candidates can retake specific domains. She said Pearson provided a list of assessments that align to Tennessee endorsements and price information, and that adopting new series assessments would require policy changes and work with the licensing platform.
- Operational concerns: Committee members raised multiple operational questions: how new programs would affect first-time pass-rate reporting; whether adopting Praxis Bridge requires also adopting a standard-error threshold; how at-home testing has affected candidates (technical problems, lost vouchers); and assessment availability at testing centers. Reed said the department would investigate data from other states and vendors and coordinate with vendor representatives.
Stakeholder remarks and questions
- Bob Nardo, of Libertas School of Memphis and an EPP operator, said multiple measures could help the teacher pipeline while maintaining accountability: "This will allow us to bring nontraditional candidates into the teaching force who can do a great job for kids...instead of repeated testing and the time and expense involved with that, the learning module that will actually hone those skills."
- Eddie Pruitt asked whether the department had data comparing assessment results with later teacher effectiveness; Reed and others said such analyses are limited and would require additional data work.
- Multiple committee members raised concerns about ETS at‑home testing reliability and candidate support; Reed said the department receives frequent reports of issues and has tried to provide guidance to candidates and to raise those problems with vendor support.
Next steps
TDOE staff asked for feedback on which vendor options represent "low-hanging fruit" (options that could be adopted sooner) versus those requiring deeper study. The department said it will follow up with vendors, request data from other states (for example Kentucky), and work with EPPs on operational scenarios before proposing any formal policy changes.
