About one in three Tennessee students reads on grade level. That number has been stuck for years.
Inside that statewide average sits a much harder story. Economically disadvantaged students score roughly fifteen points lower than their peers. Black students score roughly twenty points lower than white students. Students with disabilities score the lowest of any subgroup, often by thirty points or more. These gaps appear in elementary school, widen through middle school, and follow students into high school graduation outcomes.
Tennessee’s accountability system bakes subgroup performance into the school letter grade by design. The state wanted a measure that rewards schools for closing gaps, not just averaging them away. This dashboard is how you check whether it’s working.