In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1994, TSA was expanded to include non-public school students. The 1994 reading assessment considered students' proficiency in situations that involved reading different kinds of materials for different purposes. The fourth-grade assessment measured two global purposes for reading--reading for literary experience and reading to gain information. In Tennessee, 1,998 students in 76 public schools were assessed. This report describes the reading proficiency of Tennessee fourth-graders and compares their overall performance to students in the Southeast region of the United States and the nation (using data from the NAEP national assessments). The distribution of reading results and reading achievement level results are provided for subpopulations of students (race/ethnicity, type of location, parents, educational level, and gender). Reading proficiency and achievement of non-public school students are separately reported and compared to public school students. To provide a context for the assessment data, participating public school students, their reading teachers, and principals completed questionnaires which focused on: policies and practices related to reading (time for instructional activities and instructional resources for reading); delivery of reading instruction (instructional materials and activities, workbooks/ worksheets/writing, discussion and group activities, time to read, reading and use of libraries, assessing progress in reading); reading instructors (preparation, experience and professional development); students' home support for literacy (reading outside of school and in the home and hours of television watched per day). The average reading proficiency of public school students in Tennessee on the NAEP reading scale was 213 compared to 212 nationwide. (CR)