National Test Results Show Tennessee’s Reading Problem Is Real

National test results released Wednesday "put an exclamation point" on Tennessee’s reading troubles, according to Education Commissioner Candice McQueen.

While many states saw gains in reading and backtracking on math, Tennessee was the other way around.

Tennessee’s ranking in 4th grade reading dropped from 31st in the country to 36th. It’s not a huge slide, and it’s still ahead of where the state used to be: in the mid-40s. But education officials are taking note. State-based testing has shown the same declines in reading, and there’s been very little explanation.

McQueen says she’s looking at the states who have shown the most improvement.

“It’s usually not one thing. It’s multiple things," McQueen says. "It’s multiple years of work in this area. Some states have been at this nine and 10 years where they’ve made improvements in reading.”

By contrast, other states may be asking for Tennessee’s help on improving math scores. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is given every two years, Tennessee has gone from 46th in elementary math to 25th this year. 

The NAEP is considered one of the best tests for comparing one state to another, since it's one of the few tests taken by students in most states. In 2013, Tennessee showed unprecedented gains across the board, becoming the fastest improving state in the nation.

On the whole, 2015's results were statistically flat. But McQueen says she's encouraged by that.

“That says that we remained with that same growth we had back in 2013," she says. "Many folks back in 2013 would have said you know what, I think this is just a blip on the chart and you’re going to go backwards."

-NPR