Adrienne Battle
Despite setbacks — including agreeing to a large post-lawsuit settlement and policy changes required by newly implemented state legislation — the Metro Nashville Public Schools system is heading into a new school year on solid footing when it comes to student test scores. The district recently reported its highest percentage ever of students scoring proficient in yearly testing.
Scoring achievement in the most recent school year is higher in many subjects than it was before the pandemic. In a press release, Director of Schools Adrienne Battle says, “This year’s [Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program] gains show that our strategic investments and academic supports are paying off — and that our students are rising to meet and exceed the moment.”
When looking at elementary and middle school scores, 19 of 21 grade-level subject scores improved over the preceding year. Most interesting is a significant increase in fifth- and sixth-grade achievement across multiple subjects, which coincides with moving fifth-grade students back to elementary school. Since 2021, the school system has slowly been moving fifth-graders back to elementary. The process began with three of the district’s 12 “clusters,” or zones — Maplewood, Pearl-Cohn and Whites Creek — in 2021, and was completed in the most recent academic year. The scores support the claim made by MNPS when announcing the change: Fifth-graders in elementary school outperform fifth-grade students in middle schools. “The K-5 model allows for greater continuity in instruction and school culture, which we believed would contribute to improved student performance,“ says MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted.
The results also show great gains in high school end-of-course exams, with the district’s largest percentage of students scoring proficient in a variety of subjects under current standards. While MNPS reported the highest level of student proficiency, students were also growing proficient faster than they were elsewhere in the state in multiple subjects. “The 2025 TCAP results are a powerful indicator of progress in student achievement and academic growth for Metro Nashville Public Schools,” says Dr. Erin Henrick, co-director of Nashville PEER, a research-practice partnership between MNPS and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. “MNPS’ gains — outpacing the state in multiple subjects — show the district is not only raising the bar, but ensuring more students reach it.”
Five plaintiffs had accused Director of Schools Adrienne Battle of retaliation for the loss of their jobs
One critical area, however, is third-grade reading, where the state reports a 41.7 percent proficiency rate compared to 33 percent among Metro students. Thanks to a third-grade reading law passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2021 and implemented in the 2023-24 school year, this means two-thirds of MNPS third-graders will have to jump through a variety of hoops to be promoted to fourth grade. While most students have been promoted since the legislation took effect, it can be a time-consuming and stressful process for all those involved.
One MNPS principal tells the Scene that a reason for the district’s growth in achievement is stability brought by Battle’s leadership, saying that when the district creates a new plan, it sticks with it — not always a common approach in public education. This includes implementing a School Leadership Playbook that puts principals back to focusing on improving instruction. The plan is explicit in what principals should be doing, and their trainings always align with that plan.
Battle, whose contract was renewed in October with a large salary increase, is under contract with MNPS until at least 2028. The test scores are a win for Battle, who was recently at the center of a $6.5 million settlement — one of the largest in Metro Schools’ history. In a lawsuit initially filed in 2020, five MNPS staff members accused the director of retaliation. The school board voted to approve the settlement last week — at the same meeting where board members removed references to DEI within district policy in order to comply with two laws recently passed by the state.
While MNPS is right to celebrate its testing achievements, the district still trails behind the state’s average in many subject areas. But the year-after-year gains in proficiency indicate MNPS is on an upward trajectory. “In Tennessee and nationally, MNPS is becoming a model for how large urban districts can improve through data-informed decision-making, which is the core mission of the partnership at Nashville PEER,” says Vanderbilt’s Henrick. “These results reflect more than test scores — they show a system that’s learning, adapting, and investing in what works.”
Zack Barnes, Ph.D., is an associate professor of special education and literacy at Austin Peay State University, where he researches executive function and reading development. Before APSU, he spent five years as a special education teacher in MNPS.
