Tennessee Students Still Falling Short As State Celebrates Literacy Progress

Image Credit: Tennessee Department of Education / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Education officials across Tennessee are celebrating successes made on last year’s state assessments, but the state’s students still are not quite up to par as more than 25% of them are still scoring below grade levels in some areas.

This year, over 36% of students show that they are “on track” for their grade level on English language arts assessments. This is an increase from the previous year’s mastery level of 29%. 

However, the number of students scoring below grade level also increased from 23.8% last year to 25.8% this year. This is the highest rate of students falling below since 2017.

An additional 39.1% of students fell in the “approaching” category, meaning they are almost meeting grade level requirements but not quite.

Greater gaps are seen in some student subgroups more than in others. Black and Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities have higher rates of students scoring below grade level.

Over 40% of Black students and 34% of Hispanic students scored in this lower tier, while only 18.7% of white students scored similarly.

Only 2 out of 5 students with disabilities scored in the “approaching” category or above, while only 3 out of 5 economically disadvantaged students managed to do so.

J.C. Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee, attributes some of the “almost immeasurable” challenges to the pandemic.

“This was created partly by remote instruction. At the beginning of the pandemic, many urban districts lacked teacher training, necessary software, laptops, and internet access for remote learning,” Bowman stated in an email to The Tennessean. “Children often lacked a supportive adult at home to help them with their schoolwork. This disrupted learning and created gaps in the student’s knowledge base and ended up being manifested in our classrooms.”

Bowman did acknowledge the state’s recent push to make “reading a high priority.”

In January 2021, the state initiated “Reading 360.” They invested $100 million in an effort to help schools and teachers assist struggling readers.

The program provides training and materials for teachers, funding for tutoring, and additional resources for families. It also includes a daily text-messaging program that provides learning strategies for parents of children in grades pre-k through 3.

Federal funding has also been used to assist school districts with the implementation of summer learning programs and tutoring programs with the aim of bridging some of the learning gaps.

A law passed in 2021 will go into effect this school year, requiring that any third grade student who does not test on grade level be held back unless they agree to attend summer school or commit to a year of intervention tutoring.

Critics of the state continue to question why school districts are celebrating successes that really show just how far Tennessee students still have to go.

Sonya Thomas, executive director of Nashville Propel – a parent advocacy group – says this is nothing unusual.

“Last Fall, [MNPS] celebrated an elementary school’s removal from the state’s priority school list when just 13% of its student population reached reading proficiency. Today, the state and district celebrate marginal increases in literacy scores while scores for Black children plummet. So what are they celebrating? We live in a city and state committed to the lowest expectations for Black and brown children and way too comfortable with decade after decade of underperformance.”

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com