Score Card: 2013 State Data
College Readiness Exams
Tennessee requires specific assessments to measure whether or not students are on track to graduate ready for college and career. The
assessments include: ACT Explore in eighth grade, ACT Plan in tenth grade, and the ACT in eleventh grade. Students meeting ACT
Benchmark scores have approximately a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher and approximately a 75 percent chance of earning a
C or higher in their corresponding college course area.xl Since 2010, Tennessee has seen slight progress in terms of the percent of students
meeting the College Readiness Benchmarks but continues to be below the majority of other states who use the ACT. In 2013, only 18 percent of eleventh-graders, 16 percent of tenth-graders, and 17 percent of eighth-graders met all four benchmarks on their respective ACT
tests.xli Tennessee ranks 13th out of 17 states in which more than 75 percent of high school students take the ACT.xlii
Percent of 2013 ACT-Tested High School Graduates
Meeting College Readiness Benchmarks by Subject
Percent
58%
ENGLISH
36%
READING
29%
MATH
ALL FOUR
Tennessee
Nation
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
27%
SCIENCE
18%
Explore (8th Grade)
Plan (10th Grade)
ACT (11th Grade)
Tennessee 2013 ACT College
Readiness by Subject and Grade
44%
44%
36%
64%
ENGLISH
58%
READING
36%
MATH
29%
29%
21%
23%
SCIENCE
71%
74%
45%
45%
37%
27%
17%