What is TCAP?
TCAP is the statewide standardized test administered by Tennessee public schools.
What does "% Met or Exceeded Expectations" mean?
It is the share of students at the school who performed at grade level or above on the test, summed across the top two of four performance levels. A higher number is better.
What does 55.6% mean for English Language Arts at Buchanan Elementary?
It means about 55.6 percent of students tested at Buchanan Elementary performed at grade level or above on the TCAP English Language Arts test in 2024-25. The statewide average for Tennessee that year was 40.9%. The other students fell into the lower performance levels.
How is the state average calculated?
It is a weighted average, not a simple average of each school's number. We multiply each public school's score by how many of its students tested, add those together for all schools in Tennessee, and divide by the total students tested that year. This way a big school with 1,500 students counts more than a small school with 50 students, which is the right way to ask "how did the typical student do this year?". District and county averages on this page use the same method, just scoped to that district or county.
Where does this data come from?
Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Achievement assessments for grades 3-8 in ELA / Math / Science / Social Studies, plus End-of-Course (EOC) exams for high school (Algebra I/II, Geometry, Integrated Math I/II/III, English I/II, Biology I, US History). School-level All Students subgroup from the TDOE Data Downloads. Headline metric is the cumulative 'On Track + Mastered' rate (top 2 of 4 TCAP performance levels).
How often is it updated?
TCAP is administered once a year (spring). Results are released by the state in the summer or early fall. We refresh this page after each annual release.
