KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Tennessee Department of Education released final data about the third-grade retention appeals after the window for submission closed on June 30.

According to the TDE, the department received 10,572 appeal forms representing 9,054 unique students. Out of the 9,054 students, 7,812 appeals were approved and 685 were denied.

TDE added 557 appeals were considered “not applicable.”

“Throughout the summer, students, as well as their families, have remained engaged in making the best possible decisions about their education, seeking out academic supports in summer camp and tutoring during the upcoming school year,” said Lizzette Reynolds, commissioner of education. “Looking ahead, the department will continue to support districts and schools to ensure all students can get a great education in the coming school year, through strong classroom instruction and additional learning supports like tutoring.”

The department said they plan to release information in regard to the third-grade students who completed the summer camp promotion pathway requirements.

In 2021, the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act was passed which does not allow third-grade students to move forward to the fourth grade if they do not pass the English Language Arts (ELA) portion of their Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. The legislation was proposed by Gov. Bill Lee.

Third-grade students who scored “approaching” or “below” on the ELA portion of the exam could retake the TCAP assessment, and attend a free summer camp and/or tutoring in the upcoming school year to continue to the fourth grade.

If a third-grade student received an “approaching” score, their parent could submit an appeal within 14 days of receiving the decision of potential retention from their child’s school.

Statewide averages for third-grade ELA scores were released on May 22, district-level ELA performance scores were released on May 24 and TCAP retake scores were released on June 7.

According to the TCAP retakes, 44,395 third-grade students were eligible to participate in the retake and 26,239 eligible students took the TCAP retake assessment.

Statewide, 12.77% of students scored “proficient” on the retake. Knox County Schools had a total proficiency of 42.9% with 23.98% being “below,” 33.12% being “approaching,” 27.74% being “meets” and 15.16% being “exceeds.”