Shining a light on education & government in TennesseeShining a light on education & government in TennesseeFlight Scores combine four state-published readiness metrics into a single 0 to 100 score, so you can see at a glance how a Tennessee high school prepares its students for life after graduation.
The Flight Score is a Tennessee Firefly composite that combines four state-published readiness metrics into a single number from 0 to 100. The four underlying components are official; the composite is ours. Read it as a quick-look signal, then drill into the components on the dashboards for each metric.
Each of the four components is normalized to a 0 to 25 scale, then summed. Equal weighting across the four pieces. No special-case bonuses, no tier adjustments before the sum.
The four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate. Measures the percentage of students who earn a regular diploma within four years of entering high school.
The percentage of graduates who enrolled in a postsecondary institution during the summer or fall after graduation, matched through National Student Clearinghouse.
The average ACT composite plus the percentage of students meeting the 21-point college-ready benchmark. Reflects the universal-testing population, not self-selected test-takers.
The percentage of graduates earning Ready Graduate status through ACT, EPSOs, industry certifications, or military enlistment. The state’s primary readiness measure.
Every Tennessee high school lands in one of five tiers. The thresholds are fixed; the distribution shifts slightly each year as outcomes statewide move.
Excelling across every post-graduation outcome measure. Roughly the top five percent of Tennessee high schools by Flight Score.
Strong college and career readiness outcomes across the board. Above-average in every component, exceptional in at least one.
Meeting state expectations for post-graduation preparation. The state median Flight Score sits in this band.
Below the state median, with measurable progress toward readiness benchmarks. Often schools serving high-needs populations.
Significant room for improvement across outcome measures. Often the same schools showing up in the lowest bands of grad rate, ACT, and readiness.
Filter by school, district, or county. Each row shows the composite score, the tier, and the four component scores so you can see what is driving the result.
These schools posted the largest Ready Graduate gains across the multi-year window. Momentum shows up in the Flight Score with a +5/+3 bonus.
Tennessee high schools across the five Flight Score tiers.
Rutherford County · Rutherford County
Williamson County · Williamson County
Williamson County · Williamson County
Williamson County · Williamson County
Shelby County · Germantown
Lawrence County · Lawrence County
Sumner County · Sumner County
Van Buren County · Van Buren County
Hamilton County · Hamilton County
Dyer County · Dyer County
Maury County · Maury County
Knox County · Knox County
A Flight Score is a composite metric developed by Tennessee Firefly that measures how well a high school prepares students for post-secondary success. It combines graduation rate, college-going rate, ACT performance, and Ready Graduate certification into a single 0 to 100 score.
Each of the four components (graduation rate, college-going rate, ACT performance, Ready Graduate rate) is normalized to a 0 to 25 scale and then summed. The result is a composite score from 0 to 100 that places each school in a performance tier from Growing to Elite.
Schools scoring 75 or above are classified as Strong. Scores of 90 or above earn the Elite tier. The state median hovers around 62, placing most schools in the Ready tier. A score below 45 indicates significant room for growth across multiple outcome measures.
No. The Flight Score is a Tennessee Firefly composite that combines four official state metrics into one number. The four underlying metrics are official; the composite is ours. Read it as a quick-summary signal, not a replacement for any single state-published indicator.
The four component metrics come from the Tennessee Department of Education Report Card and the National Student Clearinghouse. The composite score is calculated by Tennessee Firefly using the published equal-weight methodology.
Schools missing one or more component metrics (small-enrollment, no graduating cohort, etc.) cannot produce a Flight Score and appear as Not Available. The composite is a quick-look signal, not a replacement for any individual state metric.
The Signal is Tennessee Firefly’s free weekly newsletter on schools and the policies that shape them.
Subscribe to The SignalOpen Graduation Rates, College-Going, ACT, or Ready Graduate to see the individual metrics that feed each Flight Score.
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