One of the best-kept secrets in Tennessee education is the availability of Student Projection Reports. These reports, available to parents and guardians, show how a student has performed on past achievement tests and how he or she can be expected to perform in the future. They can help you determine whether your child is on a path to success, or if you need to seek additional help before it’s too late.

Where the Data Comes From

The Tennessee Department of Education stores achievement information on individual children and, thanks to some highly sophisticated statistical methodologies, can project future achievement on the basis of past test scores.

Available Reports

Depending on the grade level of the child in question, available reports may include:

  • Projected Success on the TCAP test – Whether your child will reach the Proficient or Advanced level of achievement in subsequent grades in the following subjects:  Math, Reading/Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies
  • Projected Success on the End of Course Tests (EOC) that are given in certain high school subjects – Current EOC tests include Math Foundations, English I, Physical Science, and US History
  • Projected Success on the Gateway Tests that must be passed for high school graduation – Math (Algebra I), Science (Biology I), and English II are currently required for a high school diploma.
  • Projected Success on the ACT college entrance exam – ACT scores are widely used by universities to determine college acceptance, course placement, and eligibility for various scholarships.  Student Projection Reports provide a projected percentage chance of the individual student reaching a certain minimum score.

What the Reports Look Like Online

The pages listed below are from the website that only your child’s school can access.  The hardcopy reports that are furnished by your school may have a different appearance.  Note that the student information in the online examples is fictional.

  • The general help page – provides background information on the projections
  • The 7th grade math proficiency projection graphic, showing actual past performance and future projected performance on the 7th grade math assessment
  • Data for the 7th grade math projection, showing previous testing history, expressed in State NCEs and percentiles, and a projection of the student’s probable State Percentile in the selected subject if he or she has the average schooling experience. The student’s probability for success at the selected performance level or cut score appears in parentheses
  • The Algebra I projection graphic, showing actual past performance and future projected performance on the Algebra I assessment
  • The ACT Math projection graphic, showing actual past performance and future projected performance against an ACT score of 19, the minimum needed to enter freshman level math courses

How to Get Your Child’s Report

Student Projection Reports are accessible only through your child’s school.  Because some schools and systems do not routinely make use of them, however, you may have to bring them to the attention of school or school system administrators.

Interested parties may learn more about the Student Projections Reports by contacting the Education Consumers Foundation (ecf@education-consumers.org) or the Tennessee Department of Education.

Tennessee Department of Education
Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
Hardison Building
1252 Foster Ave.
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

Telephone: (615) 532-3027
Fax: (615) 532-7860
http://www.state.tn.us/education/assessment/
TNED.Assessment@tn.gov

What Next?

If you’ve viewed your child’s projection reports and see a need for improvement, you may want to learn what’s possible by reviewing the following: