Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System

Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System

The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) measures student growth year over year, regardless of whether the student is proficient on the state assessment. In calculating a TVAAS score, a student’s performance is compared relative to the performance of his or her peers who have performed similarly on past assessments.

Access TVAAS Reports

  • TVAAS Public Site provides school and district level reports for parents and the public.
  • TVAAS Educator Site (login required) provides reports for teachers, principals and administrators.

Both sites provide detail on value-added methodology, descriptions of each report, and instructions on how to compare the performance of different schools and systems.

How TVAAS Works


1. TVAAS measures student growth, not whether the student is proficient on the state assessment. 

For example, a student who is behind academically may show significant academic growth but not be proficient on the end of year test. Another student may also not be proficient on the end of year test, but not show any growth. The teacher added a lot of value to the first student’s academic development (and increased their likelihood of being proficient in 6th grade), and little value to the second student’s academic development. TVAAS allows educators to consider their students’ achievement (their score on the end of year assessment), as well as their growth (the progress students make year to year). 

2. Low-achieving students can grow and their teachers can earn strong TVAAS scores. 

When students grow more than expected, that growth is reflected in a teacher’s TVAAS score – regardless of whether the student earned below basic, basic, proficient or advanced on the state assessment. 

3. High-achieving students can grow and their teachers can earn strong TVAAS scores. 

Just as children grow in height each year, they also grow in academic ability. If a second grader is tall in relation to her peers, she will need to continue to grow each year to be tall relative to her peers in fifth grade. A tall second grader who does not continue to grow will soon be a short fifth grader. Likewise, our highest performing students still have room to grow academically and their teachers can still earn high TVAAS scores. Even students who consistently earn advanced scores can demonstrate growth. 

Download Three Facts about TVAAS.

For Everyone

In addition to the value-added reports on the two TVAAS sites, there are a number of resources to support educators and the public in better understanding TVAAS.