Supporting Effective Teaching in Tennessee: Executive Summary | Page 13
school graduation rate increased from 56.7 percent to 69.5
percent. This is the fastest increase in graduation rate of any
state in the country except for South Carolina.14
ranks 37th in the nation on this metric, below five other
Southeastern states including Kentucky (21st), Virginia (22nd),
Alabama (23rd), North Carolina (29th), and Florida (32nd).15
Despite this improving high school graduation rate, Tennessee
still ranks very low when examining postsecondary enrollment
and completion rates. Of all the 18-24 year olds in Tennessee,
only 31.9 percent are enrolled either full-time or part-time at
either a community college or four-year institution. Tennessee
Even among those entering higher education with the hopes of
completing a bachelor’s degree, only about half actually receive
their degree. Specifically, only 50.3 percent of all Tennessee’s
first-time, full-time undergraduates attending a four-year
institution earn their bachelor’s degree within six years of
Figure 3.2
State Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Vermont
New Hampshire
Minnesota
North Dakota
Kansas
Montana
Virginia
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Maine
Wyoming
South Dakota
Iowa
Connecticut
Wisconsin
Washington
Maryland
Indiana
Colorado
Delaware
Idaho
Nebraska
New York
Texas
Missouri
Utah
North Carolina
Florida
U.S. Average
Oregon
Illinois
Kentucky
Southeast Average
Michigan
Alaska
South Carolina
Oklahoma
Rhode Island
Georgia
Arkansas
Tennessee
West Virginia
Arizona
Hawaii
Nevada
Alabama
Louisiana
California
New Mexico
Mississippi
Washington, DC
200
250.0
249.1
245.5
225
250
NAEP Composite Scale Score
Notes: Composite scale scores are the average of the fourth grade reading, fourth grade math, eighth grade reading, and eighth grade math scale scores.
Source: National Center for Educational Statistics
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