On Thursday, the Tennessee Department of Education launched the 2025-2026 update to the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) site, which measures how much progress students made from one year to the next compared with the state's growth standard. ¶
Each rated school and district receives a level from 1 (least growth) to 5 (most growth), with 3 being the expected year-over-year growth. ¶
TVAAS helps inform teachers, schools, districts, and the state about the impact schools have on learning progress by offering a metric that shows how student performance changes over time. ¶
Considering both growth and achievement provides a more thorough picture of how students are progressing toward academic goals than either measure individually. ¶
The department posted ratings for 1,743 schools and 147 districts on its public TVAAS site, which lets visitors examine subject- and grade-level growth metrics and view achievement data from annual assessments. ¶
State Report Card to Come in December
The public release of school and district TVAAS data precedes the Department’s launch of the 2025-2026 state report card, expected next month.¶
The state report card provides families, educators, and community members with insight into many facets of education across Tennessee and includes a school letter-grade framework. ¶
School letter grades are calculated using achievement data from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, TVAAS growth data, and outcomes data to provide a comprehensive view of school performance.¶
The state report card will also include state and federal designations. Designations highlight both schools doing exemplary work and those that may need support to ensure students have the tools necessary to make adequate progress. Schools identified as needing support or intervention are provided additional tools in the years following their designation.¶
Growth in Public Charter Schools
Strong growth ratings also open a new path to renewal for public charter schools. Under Public Chapter 1012, which passed as House Bill 2177, an authorizer that receives a renewal application from a public charter school meeting the law's definition of a high-performing public charter school “shall automatically approve” the school for renewal.¶
To qualify, a school needs a TVAAS school composite of “above expectations” or “significantly above expectations” (Level 4 or 5) in each of the three immediately preceding school years. It also must meet or exceed standards on at least 75 percent of the indicators in each section of its school performance framework in each of those years, and have no significant audit findings during its current charter agreement.¶
Education advocacy organization Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) cited the impact that a growth pathway could have on schools in its policy brief for House Bill 2177.¶
“70% of Nashville Charter Schools earned a TVAAS growth score of 4 or 5, compared to 37% of district-operated schools,” wrote TSS.¶
The Tennessee Firefly is a project of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.¶
Virtual Schools Start the Count
The 2025-26 ratings are the first year that counts under a 2026 law aimed at virtual schools with the lowest growth. Public Chapter 905 requires a district to close a virtual school with a school composite of “significantly below expectations” (Level 1) for any three consecutive years beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.¶
After two such years in a row, the district must notify the school's provider and parents in writing, and the school “shall not enroll any new students in the current or upcoming school year.”¶
TSS wrote in its virtual school policy brief that while virtual schools “are an innovative choice for many families,” they “should be held to high standards to ensure families have high quality school choice options.” ¶
Finalized report card data next month will illustrate where the state’s virtual schools currently sit relative to this new statute.¶
Exploring the Data
Every rated school's and district's 2025-26 level is in the Tennessee Firefly's growth ratings explorer and on the TVAAS site. ¶
