As part of a national research effort developed by 50CAN and Edge Research to survey more than 23,000 families nationwide, the Tennessee report captures the perspectives of 516 Tennessee parents surveyed between September and December 2025.

This year’s updated survey captures how families are experiencing the education system now, as well as how views and perspectives have shifted since the first edition, published in November 2024.

Today, TennesseeCAN launches the second edition of The State of Educational Opportunity in Tennessee: A Survey of Tennessee Parents. 

As part of a national research effort developed by 50CAN and Edge Research to survey more than 23,000 families nationwide, the Tennessee report captures the perspectives of 516 Tennessee parents surveyed between September and December 2025.

This year’s updated survey captures how families are experiencing the education system now, as well as how views and perspectives have shifted since the first edition, published in November 2024.

“Parent voice is essential to understanding whether our education system is delivering on its promise to students and families,” said Chelsea Crawford, Executive Director of TennesseeCAN. “This year’s data shows Tennessee has made meaningful progress in parent satisfaction and confidence, but it also makes clear that families still need better access to information, school quality and opportunity, and high-quality learning supports like tutoring.”

Across 47 questions, the survey measured the following:

Parental support of education policies: How parents feel about policies like free tutoring and summer camp, annual testing, school choice, funding, teacher salaries and more. Across all 50 states, not counting D.C.:

• Tennessee ranks above the national average for parents answering they strongly favor free tutoring (ranked 18th out of 50 states), annual testing of student learning (ranked 18th), open enrollment (ranked 15th), charter schools (ranked 15th), vouchers (15th) and higher teacher salaries (ranked 18th)
• Tennessee falls below the national average for parents answering they strongly support free summer camp (ranked 31st), education savings accounts (ranked 38th), and more funding (ranked 38th)

Student habits outside of school: How parents report their students are spending their unstructured time, from homework and reading for pleasure to their use of AI and social media and more

• Tennessee ranks above the national average for parents responding that their child spends more than 30 minutes using AI per weekday (ranked 10th) and that their child spends more than 30 minutes on social media per weekday (ranked 15th)
• Tennessee ranks below the national average for parents responding that their child spends more than 30 minutes with friends in-person per weekday (ranked 36th) and that their child will enroll in college (ranked 16th)

Landscape of educational opportunities: how parents feel about their child’s school, access to and participation in programs like tutoring; mental health supports, and understanding of their student’s achievement and preparation for life after high school, and more

• Tennessee ranks above the national average in parents who responded they are very satisfied with how the school supports their child’s mental health needs (ranked 2nd), and who are extremely confident they have a clear understanding of how well their child is achieving academically (ranked 8th), who say they rely on graded assignments or standardized tests to determine if their child is on grade level (ranked 9th), who are extremely confident their child will be equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies to succeed in the workforce (ranked 4th) and who are extremely confident their child will be well prepared for entrance into and success in college upon graduation from high school (ranked 3rd)
• Tennessee ranked below the national average of parents who responded they reviewed and compared their child’s school performance to other schools within the past year (ranked 27th), that they are very familiar with their school budget (ranked 21st), who believe their child is performing above grade level in math (ranked 25th) and who believe their child is performing above grade level in reading (ranked 39th)

To dive into the data, check out the interactive data explorer, and to compare results state by state, read 50CAN’s The State of Educational Opportunity in America report.