Governor Lee, Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, and education stakeholders convened for a press conference Monday, August 2nd to announce the Spring 2021 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) state-level results, which revealed the following:

English Language Arts:

• A decline in overall English Language Arts proficiency by 5 points, from 2019 results.
• 3 in 10 Tennessee students are meeting grade level expectations in ELA.
• 2nd & 3rd grades scores showed large increases to students scoring Below, with the rate of 2nd graders
• scoring Below increasing 68% and 3rd graders scoring Below increasing 47%, respectively.

Math:

• 1 in 4 Tennessee students is on grade level in mathematics.
• Overall proficiency for 3rd graders declined from 44% in 2019 to 31% in 2021
• 4th graders’ overall proficiency experienced a decline from 46% in 2019 to 34% in 2021

Science:

• Science proficiency rates declined by a third.
• Only 38% of Tennessee students demonstrated proficiency.
• Learning loss in science were more profound than any other subject.

Social Studies:

• Social Studies saw the most modest decline of the evaluated subjects and maintained performance from 2018
• Although middle school students exhibited a 4-point decline in proficiency, high school students enjoyed a 4 point in increase in overall proficiency.