2016-17 State of Education in Tennessee | Page 17

Tennessee ranks fourth nationally in combined fourth- and eighth-grade proficiency rate increases on NAEP math and reading exams . However , the gap in proficiency between low-income students and their more-advantaged peers has grown 8.6 percentage points . According to a January 2016 analysis by Education Week , this widening gap places Tennessee far behind many states on efforts to narrow achievement gaps associated with math and reading proficiency across income levels . 3

Student performance results by race and ethnicity show similar trends to those of ED students in Tennessee . Generally , gaps remained static or grew in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade reading and math . However , Tennessee is seeing improvement in fourth-grade math among both African American and white students . In 2015 , African American students in Tennessee outperformed the national average for their African American peers in fourth-grade math for the first time . In addition , the achievement gap between Tennessee ’ s African American and white students in fourthgrade math is closing faster than the national average .

FIGURE 8 . GRADE 4 NAEP MATH SCORES BY RACE

FIGURE 9 . GRADE 4 NAEP READING SCORES BY RACE

FIGURE 10 . GRADE 8 NAEP MATH SCORES BY RACE

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