The Volunteer State is exceptionally good at sending kids out into the world with a satisfactory education: U.S. News & World Report ranked Tennessee 9th in the nation in graduation rate in their most latest survey.

Tennessee’s best public school district is Williamson County Schools, a large district comprising 44 schools serving Williamson County, TN. WCS is one of the fastest growing in the state, and plans to open three more schools for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year. The expansion hasn’t hurt the district’s academic performance any, as the WCS’s 2017 graduating classes’ ACT composite score of 25.2 is the highest in the district’s history.

At #2 is Maryville City Schools, comprising seven schools serving Maryville, TN. In 2017, the district managed a remarkable graduation rate of 94.3%, with 90% of graduating students going on to some form of secondary education.

Johnson City Schools, a district made of up of eight elementaries, two intermediate/middle schools and one high school, comes in third place.The district’s students’ ACT and SAT scores consistently exceed state and national averages, perhaps owing to the high qualifications of JCS’s teachers, 20 of which have received National Board Certification.

Gibson Special Schools, a well rated district based in Dyer, TN, ranks #4, followed by Rutherford County Schools (#5) of Murfreesboro, TN, a large school district that received AdvancED accreditation in 2010.

Methodology

The following contributed to the ranking: student performance (math and reading test scores), dropout rates, school funding, and area poverty rates. Data was collected from a total of 9,577 school districts.

Did your district make the list?