At Coffee County Central High School (CCCHS), students and faculty alike have faced an ongoing round of challenges throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Pushing through this school year has been no easy feat.

With all of the twists and turns of learning during a pandemic, it has been difficult for students to stay caught up to speed on their grade-level learning. However, students may take a sigh of relief when they hear about Tennessee’s decision on what state testing will look like this year.

There are five classes at CCCHS that have an end of course (EOC) exam this year: Algebra, Algebra II, Geometry, Biology, and English II. 

Normally, the EOC exam for these classes count for a certain percentage of the student’s grade. However, students have lost instructional time due to challenges with distance learning and other mid-pandemic issues.

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is hoping to remedy this by holding the students, educators, and school district harmless for EOC scores.

There is only one requirement that has to be met for EOC grades to be waived from affecting the student’s grade: 80% of the class must participate in the test. If this requirement is met, EOC scores will not count for or against the student.

By conducting EOC tests in this way, the TDOE will be able to gauge the progress made by students in the 2020-2021 school year. This will allow them to understand what may need to be done if students have fallen behind due to distance learning and other challenges of learning during a pandemic.

This is an opportunity for students alike to get a feel for what they have learned without having the fear of ruining their grades based on a single test. The students at CCCHS should make an effort to do their best on their EOC tests in order to show themselves and our Tennessee lawmakers that a pandemic can’t hold us back!