Education

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on the cost implications or technological accessibility for all students, leaving these points as uncertainties.

Virtual School Testing Act

This act allows virtual schools to give TCAP tests online if they follow certain rules, like having a proctor watch the test through video.

What This Bill Does

• Allows virtual schools and programs to administer TCAP tests in a virtual setting if specific conditions are met.
• Requires that the test is given during the official testing window set by the commissioner of education.
• Ensures that each student's test session is watched by a proctor through video for the entire duration.
• Limits how many students one proctor can watch, requiring at least one proctor for every ten students.
• Requires virtual schools to provide a second device if needed for monitoring purposes.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students in virtual schools and programs who take TCAP tests.
• Virtual school administrators responsible for organizing the test administration.
• Proctors watching over the testing sessions remotely.

Terms To Know

TCAP

Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, a set of standardized tests given to students in Tennessee.

Virtual school

A school that provides education through online or remote means rather than traditional classroom settings.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost virtual schools to provide the necessary devices for testing.
• It is unclear if all students have access to the technology required for taking tests in a virtual setting.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes the commissioner of education to determine the format in which TCAP tests are administered.
A student whose IEP or section 504 plan under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 allows for testing accommodations
must
be allowed to use the sa
me testing accommodations while taking a

TCAP
test
, as long as the accommodation does not invalidate the assessment.

This bill authorizes
a virtual school, or virtual education program,
to
administer a TCAP test

in a virtual setting that aligns with the
student's regular academic instruction, if:

(1) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting on a date, and at a time, determined by the virtual school, or by the public school providing the virtual education program, that occurs durin
g the test administration window established by the commissioner of education for the TCAP test;

(2) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting during a synchronous assessment session initiated and managed by the virtual school, or by
the public school providing the virtual education program;

(3) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting and monitored by a proctor through video means for the duration of the administration of the TCAP test
.
If the device on which
a TCAP test is administered in a virtual setting does not allow for integrated camera proctoring, then a student who is administered a TCAP test in a virtual setting must use one device to take the test and one device for the student to be video monitore
d
by a proctor for the duration of the administration of the test. If a second device is needed, then the virtual school, or the public school providing the virtual education program, must provide the second device
;

(4) The virtual school, or the public
school providing the virtual education program, strives to maintain a student to proctor ratio of no less than one proctor for every 10 students for the TCAP test being administered in a virtual setting;

(5) The virtual school, or the public school provi
ding the virtual education program, does not allow a student who is administered the TCAP test in a virtual setting to exit the room in which the test is being administered until instructed to do so by the proctor; and

(6) The submission of the TCAP test
administered to students in a virtual setting must be verified by the assessment proctor.

This bill requires the
department
of education to
ensure that TCAP tests are available to be offered in a virtual setting.
This bill authorizes the
department
to

adopt standards for the administration of TCAP tests in virtual settings.

This bill takes effect
July 1, 2026,
and applies to TCAP tests
administered to students in the 2026-2027 school year and each school year thereafter.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 822
By Hensley

HOUSE BILL 697
By Barrett

HB0697
002880
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to assessments administered to students
who receive instruction through virtual means.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 60, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary and except as provided in
subsection (b), a virtual school, as defined in § 49-16-203, or virtual education program,
operating in accordance with chapter 16, part 1 of this title, may administer a Tennessee
comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) test, or a successor test, in a virtual setting
that aligns with the student's regular academic instruction, if:
(1) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting on a
date, and at a time, determined by the virtual school, or by the public school
providing the virtual education program, that occurs during the test administration
window established by the commissioner of education for the TCAP test,
pursuant to § 49-6-6002;
(2) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting during a
synchronous assessment session initiated and managed by the virtual school, or
by the public school providing the virtual education program;
(3) The TCAP test is administered to students in a virtual setting and
monitored by a proctor through video means for the duration of the administration
of the TCAP test, except as provided in subsection (c);

- 2 - 002880

(4) The virtual school, or the public school providing the virtual education
program, strives to maintain a student to proctor ratio of no less than one (1)
proctor for every ten (10) students for the TCAP test being administered in a
virtual setting;
(5) The virtual school, or the public school providing the virtual education
program, does not allow a student who is administered the TCAP test in a virtual
setting to exit the room in which the test is being administered until instructed to
do so by the proctor; and
(6) The submission of the TCAP test administered to students in a virtual
setting must be verified by the assessment proctor.
(b) The department shall ensure that TCAP tests are available to be offered in a
virtual setting in accordance with this section.
(c) If the device on which a TCAP test is administered in a virtual setting does
not allow for integrated camera proctoring, then a student who is administered a TCAP
test in a virtual setting must use one (1) device to take the test and one (1) device for the
student to be video monitored by a proctor for the duration of the administration of the
test. If a second device is needed pursuant to this subsection (c), then the virtual
school, or the public school providing the virtual education program, must provide the
second device. This subsection (c) does not require the use of a second device if the
assessment platform allows for the assessment proctor to view the student and the
student's background during the assessment's administration.
(d) The department of education may adopt standards for the administration of
TCAP tests in virtual settings in accordance with this section to ensure that TCAP tests
are administered in a secure environment.

- 3 - 002880

SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to TCAP tests administered to students in the 2026-2027 school year and each school
year thereafter.