KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

As students prepare to take the next few weeks off for the holidays, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released the ACT state results and participation rate for the graduating class of 2025 earlier this month, and Tullahoma City Schools (TCS) students scored higher than the state average.

According to TDOE, thanks to the efforts of schools and districts encouraging student participation on the ACT, the overall statewide participation rate for the 2025 graduating class was 99%. The state average composite ACT score was 19.3 in 2025, remaining unchanged from 2024.

The ACT provides important measures to understand students’ college and career readiness and how the state prepares the next generation to transition to postsecondary opportunities. Tennessee’s award-winning ACT Senior Retake program offers public high school students the opportunity to take the ACT twice for free during normal school hours. 

Each year, the department releases statewide ACT results for the most recent graduating class, representing each student’s highest ACT score. The 2024-25 graduating class’s ACT results are available on the department’s Data Downloads webpage by visiting www.tn.gov/education/districts/federal-programs-and-oversight/data/data-downloads.html.

“We are committed to empowering every Tennessee student to participate in essential readiness programs like the ACT, ensuring they are fully prepared and confident in their postsecondary choices,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “We are incredibly proud of our districts, schools, and public charters for their unwavering dedication to guiding students toward bright futures and for continually expanding educational opportunities for all.”

For district highlights of the 2024-25 ACT results, 114 districts (87.7 %) had a participation rate of 99 % or higher in 2025 compared to 113 (87.6 %) districts in 2024.

Other statewide highlights of the 2024-25 ACT state results include:

• The statewide average ACT composite score was 19.3. It was unchanged from 2024, yet with some minor growth observed for some student groups:
• Economically disadvantaged students increased from 16.6 to 16.7 (0.1 points increase).
• English learners increased from 13.6 to 14.6 (1.0 points increase).
• Students with disabilities increased from 14.9 to 15.0 (0.1 points increase).
• More than 99 % of public charter school students participated in ACT testing in 2025.
• The overall public charter school average composite score increased from 17.1 in 2024 to 17.6 in 2025 (0.5 points increase).
• English learners increased from 14.3 to 15.3 (1.0 points increase).
• Economically disadvantaged students increased from 16.2 to 16.8 (0.6 points increase).
• More than one-third (37.2 %) of the 2025 graduating cohort met the ACT benchmark, scoring at least a 21 on the ACT, with improvement observed for some student groups from last year to this year:
• Economically disadvantaged students increased from 17.7 to 18.3 % (0.6 %age points increase).
• English learners increased from 2.3 to 6.3 (4.0 %age points increase).
• Students with disabilities increased from 8.6 to 9.2 % (0.6 %age points increase).

Locally, TCS demonstrated 4.7 percentage point decrease from 46.2% in 2024 to 41.5% in 2025 of students meeting the ACT benchmark, scoring at least a 21 on the ACT, which was higher than the average percent of students across the state.

“Tullahoma City Schools is encouraged that 41.5 percent of 2025 graduates scored a 21 or higher on their exams, compared to the state average of 37.2,” TCS officials said in a statement to The News. “The district is pleased with the overall results and continues to strive for improvement.”

In addition, TCS officials said that the school district had a 100% participation rate on the 2024-2025 ACT examinations. According to the data, the number of valid tests taken also increased from 402 valid tests in 2024 to 430 valid tests in 2025.

“It was exciting to see that TCS students received a higher average score than the rest of the state,” officials said. “Tullahoma students received an average score of 19.9 on their exams, compared to the average score of 19.3 for test-takers across the state.”

Also, TCS officials highlighted three students who earned perfect 36s for the 2024-2025 school year, and those students were Seth Vaughn, Kayleigh Williams and Sadler Duncan.

“To put this achievement into perspective, the United States high school graduating class of 2024 had 0.22 percent of all students who took the ACT receive a perfect score,” TCS officials said. “Only 3,041 out of 1.37 million test takers achieved a top composite score of 36.”

ACT/SAT results serve as a nationally normed measure to indicate college and career readiness. Under Tennessee’s accountability systems, earning a score of 21 on the ACT or earning a score of 1060 on the SAT is one of the four pathways indicating that students are prepared for career and/or postsecondary education after high school.