Read further information regarding Tennessee's Department of Education.

TCAP

There are over 900 elementary schools in the state of Tennessee. Nolan ranks in the top 1.5% in the state for Math, Reading/Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. County-wide scores can be found at the Hamilton County of Education website by clicking here.


Much of the following information was taken from the Nashville Public Education site.

The TCAP Achievement Test is a state-mandated exam administered to all
students in grades 3-8 that tests basic skills and content application in reading, language, math, science and social studies. At Nolan, all students, including special education students, take the TCAP in grades 2-5. The data uses percentiles with the 50th percentile considered as national average.

Achievement Tests:

Each spring, students in grades 3-8 are given a series of five achievement tests to provide a measure of academic skills in reading, vocabulary, language, language mechanics, mathematics, mathematics computation, science, social studies, spelling, and word analysis. Content knowledge in these subject areas as well as the application of such knowledge is assessed.

The tests are multiple-choice and timed. There is no passing or failing grade. Scores are reported as percentiles, derived by comparing Tennessee's students' scores to a national sample.

The tests provide norm-referenced and some criterion-referenced information to assess student performances. In addition, individual student's progress can be evaluated using the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System (TVAAS - .pdf file) program. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view .pdf files. If you don't have that FREE software, click here to download it.)

To read Nolan's results on the State Report Card click here.

For some free practice TCAP test questions, click here. (Mostly suited for older students.)

Writing Assessment Tests:

The Tennessee writing assessment tests are administered each February to students in grades 5, 8, and 11. The test is an actual writing task that students must complete within a set period of time. In response to a writing prompt, fifth grade students write a narrative essay, eighth grade students write an expository essay, and eleventh grade students write a persuasive essay.

These tests were designed by the state board of education and were not purchased commercially. The writing tests are different than a multiple choice exam in that they are a subjectively graded exercise, scored on a 1-6 scale, with a 1 being deficient. Deficient essays are incoherent and full of errors. A 6 is "outstanding" and generally error-free. Because these tests measure a student's writing skill, they provide only performance assessment or criterion-referenced information and cannot be nationally normed.


The Office of Educational Accountability

The Office of Educational Accountability is a department within the Tennessee Comptroller's office that reviews state education policy on a regular basis through many detailed reports.

For further information about TCAP and the Hamilton County School System in general, visit the Hamilton County Department of Education website.