MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) is the tie that binds students across Shelby County to their peers across the state.
Right now third and fourth-grade students have the most at stake.
By state law, their results from the reading portion of the test will determine if they repeat a year.
That's caused lots of anxiety for parents and kids in the district and across the state. But not everyone is worried. The Goodwin family tells ABC24 they're confident in their preparation both inside and out of the classroom.
"We're helping them at home as much as we can and we're leaning on the educational system to do the things that they're doing," the father of an MSCS third and fourth grader Julius Goodwin said. "We have to do the work as well as work with the school system to their work."
Goodwin says the task of preparing for TCAP is a partnership between parent and teacher.
Goodwin says prep has been built on communication with his children's school White Station Elementary.
"When she wasn't up to that standard, they let us know," Goodwin said. "When she got up to that standard and they felt like she'd do good, they let us know that as well. Also, with a contingency plan on how to get her there."
Including help with additional practice tests and, for this father balancing the busyness of extra-curricular activities, like tennis through Tennis Memphis.
"Sometimes its some fun things that your kids can do that they can also get tutoring and help them with their points that they're not as strong in," Goodwin said. "The role that it plays in their life I feel, it kind of gives them that mental fortitude. When you're faced with challenges that I may be held back if I don't pass this test."
TCAP testing is set to start Monday, April 15.