HB 2277

This bill requires each public school, including public charter schools, to annually submit to the department of education, or a form developed by the department, a list of all local assessments administered to the students enrolled in the public school e ach school year, and the schedule for when each such local assessment is administered. The full text of this bill specifies information that must be included for each reported local assessment. For purposes of this bill, "local assessment"" means a stand a rdized test or assessment selected by an LEA or public school that is administered to students at the sole direction of the LEA or public school. This bill specifies that the following are not a local assessment: (1) A TCAP test or any other standardized assessment or screener administered to students by an LEA or public school pursuant to state law or any rule of the state board of education or the department of education; or (2) An assessment, test, assignment, project, or quiz that is administered only to students in certain classrooms at the direction of the classroom teacher for purposes of assessing student proficiency in a subject, branch of a subject, or in the curric ula or instructional materials assigned to students in the classroom. This bill requires the department to compile the local assessment information reported by public schools and make the information available to the public through an online database accessible through the department's website no later than July 1, 2027. The full text of this bill specifies requirements for the database. Present law requires the teacher evaluation advisory committee to develop and recommend to the state board of education guidelines and criteria for the annual evaluation of all teachers and principals employed by LEAs. Present law requires that 35% of t he evaluation criteria be student achievement data based on student growth data as represented by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) and 25% be based on other measures of student achievement selected from a list of such measures developed b y the teacher evaluation advisory committee and adopted by the board. Present law authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to also allow teachers to use the results from benchmark assessments including state-adopted benchmark assessments or a universal screener approved by the state board of education as a measure of stu dent achievement. This bill instead authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to allow teachers to use the results from state-adopted benchmark assessments as a measure of student achievement. Present law also authorizes LEAs and public charter schools t o authorize teachers in the non-tested grades K-2 to use the results of the Tennessee universal reading screener or a universal reading screener approved by the state board as an approved alternative growth model to generate individual growth scores for t eachers pursuant to the department's evaluation guidelines. This bill instead authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to allow teachers in K-2 to use only the results of the Tennessee universal reading screener as an approved alternative growth model to generate individual growth scores for teachers pursuant to the evaluation guidelines developed by the department. Present law requires each LEA and public charter school to annually administer a universal reading screener to students in grades K-3. Present law authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to satisfy such requirement by administering the Tennessee univ ersal reading screener provided by the department or a universal reading screener approved by the state board. This bill requires LEAs and public charter schools to use only the Tennessee universal reading screener for students in grades K-3. This bill au thorizes LEAs to use the Tennessee universal reading screener for pre-K students. This bill establishes a nine-member assessment review board to annually review, under the direction of the department of education, the TCAP tests administered to students in the most recent school year. The assessment review board consists of nine publ ic school teachers, with three teachers appointed by each of the governor, the speaker of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives. The full text of this bill specifies grade bands from which appointees must be selected and various org an izational and procedural requirements for the review board. ON MARCH 23, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2403, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 removes the provisions described in the bill summary concerning changes to the criteria for evaluation of teachers and to the universal reading screener, renames the assessment review board to be the Tennessee comprehensive assessment program, requires the department of education to create a framework to determine a student's projected proficiency level on the English language arts (ELA) of the TCAP test based on the student's performance on the Tennessee universal reading screeners administer ed to the student during the school year, requires each vendor that provides a universal reading screener that is approved by the state board of education and that is being administered by an LEA or public charter school to comply with the Tennessee Liter acy Success Act to shall create a framework to determine a student's projected proficiency level on the ELA portion of the TCAP test based on the student's results on the universal reading screeners administered to the student during the school year and s ub mit the framework to the department, and requires the department to publish on the its website the percentage of students who attained each projected proficiency level for the ELA portion of the TCAP test based on the frameworks created pursuant to this a mendment. ON APRIL 21, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2403 FOR HOUSE BILL 2277, ADOPTED AMENDMENTS # 2 AND 3, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2403, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 removes authorization for members of the TCAP assessment review board to receive reimbursement for travel expenses. AMENDMENT #3 adds the ""Protecting Religious Liberty and Expression in Public Schools Act, which requires public schools to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a designated period of prayer. Schools must adopt and implement policies for t he purpose of implementing such designated period, which must address all of the following:  Prohibiting a student or employee from participating in the period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts unless there is a signed consent form.  Prohibiting the provision of a prayer over a public address system.  Specifying that a period of prayer does not substitute for instructional time.  Ensuring a period of prayer is not provided in a way that would constitute an injury in fact to a person who has not consented or has revoked consent and has not submitted a new form of consent. This amendment specifies the process for revoking consent. This amendment authorizes public schools to require that the period of prayer to be provided before regular school hours and by any other method recommended by the attorney general, or legal counsel for the school district. However, a student or employe e may also participate in a period of prayer during a time in the school day that is not so designated by the school. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE SENATE NON-CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENTS #2 AND #3. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE HOUSE REFUSED TO RECEDE IN ITS ACTIONS IN ADOPTING HOUSE AMENDMENTS #2 AND 3. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE SENATE REFUSED TO RECEDE FROM ITS NON-CONCURRENCE IN HOUSE AMENDMENTS #2 AND #3 AND APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE HOUSE APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT. ON APRIL 23, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT AND MADE IT THE ACTION OF THE HOUSE."