As has been the custom, TNReady was not ready again this year, failing miserably across the state leaving school systems with a quandary – to count the test or not. In DeKalb County the test will not be considered in final grades.

During the board of education meeting Thursday night at DeKalb Middle School, the panel voted not to figure the TNReady scores in students’ final grades this academic year due to the issues experienced by the online testing component. The state allowed school boards to determine how much weight to give the standardized end-of-year test, permitting it to count anywhere between zero to 15 percent of a student grades. The board voted not to allow the flawed test to count anything.

The school board’s move comes after the state legislature voted not to allow TNReady scores to count against students, schools and teachers on a state-wide level. They can; however, be used to count in favor of the school districts and teachers.

At issue this year was a flaw in the system which caused thousands of students not to be able to log into the system to take the test. The impact was state-wide and caused either delays or complete inability to take the online test. This year was not the first time TNReady has failed. The online testing component which the state pays millions for has broken down to some degree every year since its inception,  causing some lawmakers to call for the standardized test to be returned to its old pencil and paper roots.