Tennessee students the fastest improving in the nation in science

Tennessee the only state to grow faster than nation in both grades on NAEP since 2009

LaFayette High School students Jayro Benitez, left, and C.J. Pledger, scrape grout from between the tiles of a mosaic Friday afternoon in the art room. Both students helped with the construction of the mosaic, which is going to be placed in the terminal of Barwick-LaFayette Airport.
LaFayette High School students Jayro Benitez, left, and C.J. Pledger, scrape grout from between the tiles of a mosaic Friday afternoon in the art room. Both students helped with the construction of the mosaic, which is going to be placed in the terminal of Barwick-LaFayette Airport.

At a glance

- Tennessee is the only state to grow faster than the nation in both fourth and eighth grade science. - Tennessee eighth graders were the fastest improving in the nation. - Tennessee fourth graders were the second fastest improving in the nation. - Tennessee students doubled the average national growth across states in both fourth and eighth grade science, launching Tennessee into the top half of all the states. - Tennessee now ranks 19th and 21st in the country in fourth and eighth grade science, respectively. These are the highest rankings Tennessee has ever had on the Nation's Report Card. - Tennessee students narrowed or eliminated nearly every achievement gap: - In both fourth and eighth grade science, the gap in achievement scores between white and African-American students narrowed. - The gap tightened between white and Latino students in fourth grade. - The gap between male and female students was completely eliminated in both grades.

NASHVILLE -- Tennessee fourth and eighth grade students are the fastest improving in the nation when it comes to science, according to the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as the 'Nation's Report Card.'

A jubilant Gov. Bill Haslam announced the results early this morning and is now hitting Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis with NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore and state Education Commissioner Candice McQueen to celebrate with news conferences.

Fourth and eighth graders last took the NAEP science exams back in 2009. The 2015 NAEP results show Tennessee is the only state to grow faster than the nation in both grades with Tennessee students doubling the average national growth.

Twelth graders also took the exam and it was not immediately clear how they fared.

But Tennessee fourth and eighth graders now have their highest rankings ever on NAEP. They now respectively rank 19th and 21st in the country in science.

Officials also said in their news release that students narrowed or eliminated some achievement gaps.

For example, the science performance gap between male and female students was completely eliminated in both grades. And in both fourth and eighth grade science the gap in achievement scores between white and black students narrowed while differences narrowed tightened between white and Latino fourth graders.

"We couldn't be prouder of today's news," Haslam exulted in a statement. "When you think of what's important to the future of Tennessee, having our students double the national average growth in science is incredibly powerful. Not only that, but every single student group in Tennessee improved."

Haslam noted "we narrowed what we call our achievement gaps and completely eliminated the gender gap. 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 is hitting all the state's major cities today with the exception of Chattanooga. It was not immediately clear as to why.


The state has been working since 2007 to raise academic standards and strengthen teaching across subjects, building all students' critical thinking and problem solving abilities.

Moreover, Tennessee has invested in innovation and technology, encouraging more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for students in every grade and strengthening college and career pathways for all students.

Education Commissioner McQueen said that's paying off

"We've set high expectations across the board for our students in Tennessee, and our performance on the Nation's Report Card continues to reflect the hard work and progress our students and teachers are making," she said.

"To me, the most encouraging part of today's science results is that all of Tennessee's students are showing what is possible. We've narrowed or eliminated gaps between groups of students, and we are continuing to make huge strides with all students."

In 2013, Tennessee became the fastest improving state in the country on the Nation's Report Card for math and reading. The state's 2015 results continued what the Haslam administration calls "unprecedented growth" with a new class of students.

The Nation's Report Card, also known as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in the United States know and can do in various subject areas.

It is known as the gold standard of large-scale student assessments. Between January and March 2015, the NAEP science assessment was given to approximately 115,400 fourth graders, 110,900 eighth graders, and 11,000 12th graders across 46 states and the Department of Defense system, representing the nation's public and private schools.

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