How students perform in math in middle school can predict how they do in life, according to an article in The Hechinger Report. A 2022 study by Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research found superior achievement in eighth grade math is associated with a higher income, more education later and with declines in teen motherhood and incarceration and arrest rates.
In addition, middle school grades and attendance are the best indicators of how a student will do in high school and whether they’re ready for college at the end of high school, a 2014 study found.
But nationally average eighth grade scores in 2024 were below those of 2019 and didn’t budge from 2022, when scores were the lowest in more than 20 years, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card. Worse, the gaps between high and low achievers widened.
Tennessee, though, was one of five jurisdictions where the percentage of eighth graders scoring proficient in math — meaning they were able to handle challenging tasks like calculating square roots, areas and volumes — increased from 2022 to 2024. Since 2011, Tennessee has climbed from the 45th-ranked state to the 19th for average eighth grade math scores.
Tennessee District Math Strategies
Attention has turned to states like Tennessee and districts like Weakley and Putnam counties where kids have shown to be able to handle math challenges.
Weakley County sits in the state’s rural northwest corner. The county’s median household income is under $50,000.
When the first federal Covid relief money arrived in early 2020, Weakley focused on hiring staff who could help kids recover lost learning — instructional coaches for each school to focus on teaching strategies, and also subject-area coaches. “Bottom line, we decided people over things,” says school system Director Jeff Cupples.
Coaching can be a difference-maker in student outcomes, according to research. Coaching accelerated student learning by the equivalent of four to six months, according to a 2018 study. In a survey of Tennessee school districts in 2024, 80 of 118 that responded said they employ math coaches.
In 2022, Martin Middle School in Martin, Tenn., took another step — nearly doubling the time kids spend in math class. Instead of a single 50-minute class, there are two 45-minute periods that the school calls “core” and “encore.” The encore session reinforces what students learn in the first.
Weakley and Putnam County staff also credit use of student achievement data to help their middle schoolers rebound in math achievement. Tennessee was a pioneer in the use of fine-grained details on individual student achievement and growth based on state test results. Both Weakley and Putnam teachers use this data to pinpoint the skills they need to review with certain students and to keep kids motivated. Teachers also share this data with students. “Kids want to perform,” says one teacher, and many thrive on trying to best their past performance. The district is laser focused on the state tests.
At all six district middle schools, the percentage of students meeting expectations on the state math exam was higher in 2024 than in 2019, and at all six the percentage was above the state average.
The focus on testing might help explain the rebound in Tennessee. States have very different orientations around standards, accountability and the degree to which we ought to be focused on test scores,” says one educator. “I do believe test scores matter.”
The Hechinger Report
