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KNOXVILLE — Parents shouldn't be discouraged by a dip in their child's TCAP scores this year, according to state officials.

It's just a bump in the state's road to educational recovery.

Gov. Phil Bredesen, Education Commissioner Tim Webb and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist launched the First to the Top Coalition, a statewide alliance of more than 30 business, community and education groups Wednesday in Knoxville.

The coalition's first project is “Expect More, Achieve More: Raising the Bar in Tennessee Schools,” which is a campaign designed to raise parent and public awareness of the state's higher academic standards.

The state Board of Education will set Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) proficiency levels next week, Webb said. “No longer will we accept near failure as proficient.”

The state Department of Education plans to release this year's TCAP scores in late September.

State officials expect to see a significant drop-off in student proficiency, because they have implemented new standards and tests, Webb said. “Our students haven't had a loss of knowledge, but we've moved the bar.”

Officials are also expecting more schools in their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) school improvement pipeline, Webb said.

He advised parents not to focus on TCAP results, because there won't be an appropriate baseline to extract meaningful data. The public should instead look for signs of improvement.

Officials don't want parents and communities to be too overwhelmed by achievement disparities, Webb said. “For the first time we're being honest with these folks and their parents (about student achievement).”

Bredesen encouraged school leaders, policy makers and public officials to work together and come up with a solution. “We absolutely have to do this for the kids standing behind me and the 950,000 other students (in Tennessee).”

Coalition partners plan to:

• Organize community meetings and distribute information to individual organization members, clients and employees or other contacts;


• Distribute messages and materials online at www.expectmoretn.com and through social media outlets such as Facebook;


• Air public service announcements on TV and radio beginning in late August.

The Blount Education Initiative is one of the coalition's partners. “The new standards are extremely important for Tennessee,” said BEI Director Bonny Millard. “We're really trying to push the reasons behind the changes.”

BEI plans to promote the campaign in Blount County, and the organization has also pledged to support State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) in their own efforts, Millard said.

She recommended parents talk with teachers and school administrators about what they can to do to help during the state's education overhaul. “Everybody needs to step up to the plate and do more than ever before. We all have a role to play."

Officials will continue to talk to local groups about the Tennessee Diploma Project, Millard said.

Tennessee got ‘F'

For the last four years, Tennessee education officials have been working to align the state's school systems with the rest of the country.

In spring 2007, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce‘s report card gave Tennessee a ‘F' in the “Truth in Advertising” category. The report card compared the state's proficiency standards to the national proficiency standards measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The state had low standards and easy tests, Bredesen said. Schools weren't preparing students to compete for jobs in the changing global economy.

The governor said he felt it was time to be brutally honest about the state's public schools. “We needed to reassess how well school systems, schools and teachers were doing."

In January 2008, Tennessee officials approved new graduation requirements and revised standards for the state's entire K-12 educational system. The new graduation requirements started with the Class of 2013.