Hamilton County Schools officials have been celebrating the release of the district's 2019 TNReady and TVAAS results this week.
Students across the district are improving and overall the district is outperforming the state in a number of areas - five of eight to be exact - but TVAAS is a measure of how much students improved, not necessarily if they are actually on track or not.
Though the district might be performing better than the state, in areas such as third grade reading, Algebra 1 and English 1, fewer than half of students are performing on or above grade level.
Below, the Times Free Press takes a deeper look at some of Hamilton County's TNReady data.
Students in grades 3-8 take state assessments in reading and English/Language Arts, math, science and social studies each year. Six high school subjects also have end of course exams (EOCs). Students can score in one of four categories: below grade level, approaching grade level, on track (or on grade level) and mastered.
Hamilton County is celebrating growth in grades 3-5, but how many third graders are actually reading on grade level?
Research shows that third grade is a significant grade. Students are beginning to "read to learn, instead of learning to read" and whether or not a student is on track in reading and math in third grade can predict future academic success, whether they graduate high school and even post-secondary success.
Despite "historic" and "unprecedented" growth, more than 66 percent of Hamilton County students in grades 3-8 are still not on grade level in reading, and only about 56 percent are on or above grade level in math.
Continue reading for a breakdown of other content areas and grade level scores.
Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757- 6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.