Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.
How did your student’s school perform on Tennessee’s end-of-year tests?
You can find out now that the Tennessee Department of Education has released school-level testing data.
Officials released the latest batch of testing data last week that outlines Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) and end-of-course exam scores for each of the state’s 1,700-plus public schools.
Chalkbeat Tennessee compiled state results for all students from third through eighth grade into a database searchable by school. The database lists proficiency rates for math and English language arts, frequently referred to as the state’s reading test.
Other data, including high school end-of-course exams, science, and social studies scores, is available in the full state data file.
TDOE released state- and district-level scores in early July.
At the time, state officials noted improvement from elementary and middle school students in social studies testing, which showed a nearly 4-point proficiency increase across the state.
The majority of third graders still fell short of hitting a critical reading benchmark, though they made incremental year-over-year gains. More third graders scored proficient this year, with 41.7% either meeting or exceeding expectations compared to 40.9% on the 2024 third ELA test.
The department does not necessarily hold students to a pass/fail grading system, instead evaluating student results in four categories: below expectations, approaching expectations, met expectations, and exceeded expectations.
The latter two categories are often combined to determine how many students are proficient in testing benchmarks.
Though there isn’t a pass/fail mechanism, the state’s controversial third grade reading law calls for students to repeat the grade if they don’t meet or exceed expectations. In practice, most students move on to fourth grade after testing improvement or certain reading interventions, like summer school.
Melissa Brown is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact Melissa at mbrown@chalkbeat.org.
