Nashville Schools Lag State on TNReady Scores

NASHVILLE, TN — Metro Nashville public schools posted some of the state's worst results in the latest education report card.

Based on the TNReady test, administered for the first time in the 2015-16 school year, only 22.8 percent of Nashville high school students are on track or have mastered reading at their grade level and just 12.2 percent are on track or mastered their grade level in math. Though Memphis' Shelby County Schools posted a 21.6 percent number in reading, it outpaced Nashville in math with 19.5 percent proficiency, thus giving Metro the lowest combined figure in the state.

The state Department of Education released the results Tuesday and launched a new website designed to be more user-friendly for parents.

“This new report card is easier to use and has better information about whether our students are academically on track, both of which will help parents, educators, district leaders, and advocates support our students’ success," Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said in a statement.

The TNReady test was designed to be more rigorous than the old TCAP test, so an overall dip statewide was expected, but the results did line up with the results from the ACT.

TNReady is a set of tests aiming to measure academic progress. Students are tested in grades 3-8 and also in high school as part of year-end tests.

The statewide results were released in November, showing 30 percent of Tennessee students on pace in English and 21 percent in math.

Metro Schools did well in at least one metric, however. The TVAAS scale is a 1-5 rating of how effective districts are at improving student's academic progress. In literacy, Metro scored 5, but math was a different story, with the district posting a 1.

The district's average ACT score of 18.7 trails the state average figure of 19.9, but is on par with last year's number.

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