Tennessee Students Make Huge Gains in Science

NASHVILLE, TN — Gov. Bill Haslam and astronaut Barry Wilmore — a Mt. Juliet native — are touring the state Thursday to celebrate Tennessee's latest achievement: soaring scores in science proficiency.

Tennessee students are the nation's fastest improving in science, according to a report published late Wednesday by the National Assessment of Education Proficiency, based on the results of the test given to fourth and eighth grade students last year. Since the science test was last administered to both fourth- and eighth-grade students in 2009, Tennessee is the only state to grow faster than the nation in both grades with Tennessee students doubling the average national growth.

In addition, the achievement gap between white and African-American students narrowed and the gender gap was completely eliminated, with female students scoring higher than their male classmates.

Tennessee now ranks 19th in fourth grade and 21st in eighth grade in science, the first time the state has ranked in the top half nationally.

“We are on a long journey. We’ve done the hard work of raising expectations, investing more in education and letting our teachers and students show us what they can do, and again and again, our students and teachers are stepping up to the challenge," Haslam said.

The state was the fastest improving nationally in math and reading in 2013.

Image via NASA