The Putnam County School System (PCSS) received district-level results for the 2021-22 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). There are many wins in the data for PCSS students and teachers as well as growth opportunities for all students at each grade level.

The PCSS had an overall student participation rate of 99% for 2021-22 TCAP; the statewide rate was 98%. TCAP district data includes performance results from English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and social studies for grades 3-8, high school end-of-course (EOC) exams in English I and II, Algebra I, and Integrated Math II and III, and Biology.

“Our educators and students' hard work and continuous efforts are seen through our data this year. Although we still have improvements to make, the positive gains indicate that we are helping students meet achievement goals,” said Corby King, Director of Schools for Putnam County School System.

Here are highlights from PCSS’s 2021-22 TCAP Results:

English Language Arts (ELA)
PCSS was pleased with ELA results as they saw the highest growth with students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations in middle school since 2018 and elementary and high school since 2017. In 2021, Putnam County’s proficiency rate was 31%. In 2022, PCSS students exceeded pre-pandemic levels and the state average, with 37% meeting or exceeding expectations.

“This is a big win for our district in ELA. With all that is happening in education, we are seeing students recover, and trend data shows us that students are moving in the right direction from below and approaching expectations to meet and exceed expectations,” said King. 

Math
Overall, PCSS saw slight gains from 2021. Students moved from 30% meeting or exceeding expectations in 2021 to 33% in 2022. While impacting positively, the district has not yet returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels in math. Recovering from the math learning loss due to the pandemic will take time.

“What growth we saw was positive, but we recognize we are lagging behind the state proficiency rates in math this year. We will continue to increase our focus with support initiatives, many of which launched this past year. Also, in response to our data, we are using federal funds to add two additional math instructional coaches bringing us to three for the district,” said King.

EOC (End of Course) Assessments
PCSS saw encouraging results with the 2022 EOC assessment data. PCSS students performed above the state average in English I, Biology, Integrated Math II, and Integrated Math III.  

Putnam County School System board, leadership, teachers, and administrators are committed to addressing learning loss and continuing academic growth for the students in Putnam County.

“PCSS has the best of the best when it comes to educators. PCSS will continue to focus on improving student achievement entering the 2022-2023 school year with the following support initiatives:

• We are using federal funds to add two additional ELA and Math instructional coaches, bringing our total of coaches to six to provide additional support to our schools in these subject areas.
• We are continuing our Learning For All tutoring (TN All Corp) program that began in January 2022 in partnership with Tennessee Technological University’s College of Education.
• PCSS’s Summer Learning Camps for Kindergarten through 8th-grade students.
• Our school district will continue the implementation of an intervention curriculum to help close the learning loss gaps in reading, math, and science.

I want to thank our teachers, tutors, instructional coaches, staff, and administrators for their dedication to our students. I want to thank and congratulate our students for showing up, working hard, and performing well. Our students are resilient, and we are incredibly proud of them. We thank our families for partnering with us and trusting our school system with your child.”

TCAP Family Portal
The state has a free TCAP Family Portal opening by July 15 for families of students who participated in the 2022 TCAP.

For more information about testing, visit the Putnam County Data & Testing page.

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Photo: Tennessee Tech University College of Education student Rachel Martin giving high-dose tutoring through PCSS’s first Learning for All tutoring program.