AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 49, relative to education.
HB2277 makes several changes to Tennessee’s K-12 assessment and teacher-evaluation framework. First, it requires each public school, including charter schools, to annually report all “local assessments” it administers and the schedule for those assessments to the Department of Education. The department must create a standardized reporting form and publish the information in an online public database, with school-by-school, grade-level, and subject-level detail and a calendar showing when each assessment is given. The bill states that this information should be publicly available before the start of each school year, and in any event no later than July 1, 2027.
The bill also updates Tennessee’s reading-screener laws by making the “Tennessee universal reading screener” the named statewide screener and requiring LEAs and public charter schools to administer it to all K-3 students during the department’s three annual windows. The screener may be used for pre-K students, may satisfy dyslexia and RTI² screening requirements, and must be provided at no cost by the state. The results cannot be used to assign accountability determinations to schools or districts, but schools must submit the results to the department, subject to privacy protections.
In addition, HB2277 adjusts teacher-evaluation provisions so that LEAs and charter schools may allow teachers in non-tested grades K-2 to use Tennessee universal reading screener results as an approved alternative growth model. If a state-provided universal reading screener is given to pre-K students, the pre-K teacher may also use those results for growth-score purposes. The bill also allows state-adopted benchmark assessments to be used as a measure of student achievement, and it makes conforming changes throughout the education code to align terminology with the Tennessee universal reading screener.
A major new feature is the creation of an assessment review board to annually review TCAP tests. The board would consist of nine public school teachers appointed by the governor, the Senate speaker, and the House speaker, with representation from each grand division and grade bands 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The board would have access to student performance data and to any test item missed by 65% or more of students, and it would meet at least three times per year under the Department of Education’s direction. Members could be required to sign confidentiality agreements, and the board is administratively attached to the department.
The bill appears to have broad support in committee, with unanimous favorable recommendations at each recorded stage and no recorded dissenting votes. The overall sentiment suggests support for greater transparency around school assessments, continued statewide use of the Tennessee universal reading screener, and more teacher involvement in reviewing TCAP. The main potential point of contention is the expanded public disclosure of local assessment schedules and names, along with the board’s access to sensitive test and student-performance information, which may raise privacy, workload, and assessment-security concerns for schools and the department.
HB2277 would amend multiple sections of Tennessee education law to create a new reporting and public-disclosure system for local school assessments, standardize the statewide reading screener, and establish a new TCAP assessment review board. It affects LEAs, public charter schools, teachers, the Department of Education, and the State Board of Education by adding reporting duties, public database requirements, and new teacher-evaluation options tied to reading-screener results. It also makes conforming changes to existing statutes governing screening, accountability, and teacher growth models, with most operational provisions taking effect for the 2026-2027 school year.
The recorded committee votes show strong, unanimous support for the bill at each stage, with favorable recommendations and no nays. That pattern suggests the bill was generally viewed positively as an education-policy measure focused on transparency, literacy screening, and teacher input into assessment review. No committee transcript was provided, so the available record reflects procedural approval rather than detailed debate.
The bill’s likely areas of contention are the new requirement that schools publicly report all local assessments and their schedules, which could be seen as increasing administrative burden and exposing instructional planning. Another possible concern is the assessment review board’s access to TCAP performance data and to items missed by most students, which raises issues of test security, confidentiality, and student-data privacy. Some stakeholders may also question the bill’s effects on teacher evaluation, especially the use of reading-screener results as an alternative growth model for K-2 and pre-K teachers.