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Tennessee posts modest statewide gains in TCAP; middle grades remain a concern
Summary
Assistant Commissioner David Laird told the State Board that Tennessee saw year‑over‑year increases across subjects—ELA 38.9% (+1.8), math 39.7% (nearly +6), and science ~44%—but eighth grade performance remains substantially lower than elementary grades and subgroup gaps persist for students with disabilities.
David Laird, Assistant Commissioner for Assessment, Accountability and Research, gave the Board an overview of the 2024 TCAP and related assessment data. He reported that statewide performance (grades 3–8) rose modestly: "Performance... is 38.9% and that is an increase of 1.8% over the prior year," Laird said for ELA, and he noted math performance increased nearly 6 percentage points to about 39.7%.
Laird presented subject‑level trends: the largest gains were in elementary grades, while eighth grade remains the weakest across tests (ELA proficiency near 29.2% and math 34.1%). Science and social studies proficiency were higher overall (around 44%). On subgroup patterns, Laird said economically disadvantaged students showed modest gap reductions and growth that outpaced statewide averages in some grades, while students with disabilities continued to lag behind other groups.
Board members asked why science and social studies rates were higher historically and what drives the persistent dip in eighth grade; Laird suggested accumulated summer learning effects and cohort trends as plausible contributors and flagged a federal grant for adolescent literacy to target middle‑school reading comprehension.
Laird emphasized that while early‑grade literacy progress is encouraging, sustaining those gains into middle school is a continuing challenge.
