Improving Student Outcomes Together

Tennessee’s commitment to high academic standards, aligned assessments, and to using data to support improved student outcomes moved our state from the bottom of the pack nationally in education outcomes to one of the fastest growing in the country. We should remain committed to high expectations through rigorous academic standards and aligned assessments that provide essential data about student achievement and growth.

Tennessee’s commitment to annual teacher evaluations and providing educators with high-quality feedback has led to more effective instruction and significant advances in student achievement. Tennessee should preserve its evaluation system and aim to bolster and strengthen it so that educators continue receiving high-quality feedback that will, in turn, benefit all students.

Access to highly effective teachers is essential for student achievement. However, growing evidence suggests students have unreliable and inequitable access to effective educators, with many school districts reporting high levels of teacher vacancies. This series examines the challenges facing Tennessee’s educator labor market and highlights innovative practices to strengthen it.

SCORE is committed to student success from kindergarten through career. This report provides a snapshot of data across postsecondary preparation, persistence, and success as a means of highlighting key postsecondary metrics and identifying areas of improvement for better supporting students through the Tennessee public education system. Data and data insights specific to each institution and postsecondary sector are provided in the pages that follow. Due to small sample sizes in some cases, there may be fluctuations in year-over-year comparisons.

Tennessee is a leader in piloting and scaling efforts to strengthen student success. Foundational strategies have been grounded in high expectations for educators, schools, and students – from the time students enter the classroom to the time they receive a degree or credential. This work is yielding demonstrated results for students. However, while progress has been made, it is clear more needs to be done. Tennessee’s next challenge is to expand its vision for education so that each student not only has the opportunity to succeed in school but also has the opportunity to be prepared for a career that enables economic independence.

Over the last several years, Tennessee has passed legislation and guidance around adoption, purchase, training, and use of high-quality instructional materials in early grades literacy. These efforts have been grounded in research on how students best learn to read — through a focus on systematic, explicit phonics instruction and regular opportunities to build knowledge through reading and responding to complex texts. These policies and practices are beginning to transform and strengthen instruction, with the latest statewide results from the 2022-23 school year showing that 40 percent of third graders are now reading on grade level — the highest percentage since the state raised academic standards nearly a decade ago.