41% of Tennessee third graders reading at grade level, up 1% from last year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The results from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) show 41% of third graders are reading at or above grade level, which is a 1% increase from 2023.

Tennessee Department of Education has released the school-district level grades from the end-of-year TCAP. The scores have gained a new degree of importance in recent years because state lawmakers have passed legislation concerning an elementary school student’s performance on the reading portion of the test.

The law mandates third and fourth-graders who don’t earn a passing grade on the TCAP’s reading section to repeat the prior year or get additional instruction.

Across the state, while 41% of third graders received a passing grade, fourth graders fared better: a 2% increase from the year prior with 46% earning a passing score.

However, every school district was different.

In Rutherford County, one of the state’s fastest-growing districts, third grade English Language Arts proficiency remained about the same as the year before with a little more than 45% of students testing at or above grade level.

Fourth graders in Rutherford County saw more improvement. The fourth-grade proficiency scores went up to 54.2% compared to last year’s 50.9%.

“We are incredibly proud of our fourth-grade scores, which show the supports we’ve put in place are paying off,” said Rutherford County Schools Chief Communications Officer, James Evans, in a statement.

However, Evans cautioned that TCAP is just one measure of a student’s abilities. He also noted that as a fast-growing district, new students are regularly enrolling in their schools.

“We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of all students where they are, when they come to us. We are looking forward to our growth scores when they are released in a few weeks. These scores will show the true impact our teachers have had on our students and their academic growth. RCS consistently receives the highest marks for student academic growth,” Evans added.

All of the results for each school district can be found here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.