NASHVILLE, TN (December 2, 2011) – In what could be the last Tennessee Report Card tied to No Child Left Behind, Metro Nashville Public Schools shows overall growth despite tougher standards and new calculation methods.

 

“We are seeing a great deal of progress across the board and fully support the state’s pursuit of an accountability process that accurately reflects the progress of our schools and students,” said MNPS Director of Schools Dr. Jesse Register.  “We have just received the final Report Card information and are currently reviewing the information it contains.”

               

This past July, the state released Adequate Yearly Progress results for 2011, which provided clear evidence of the flaws in the current assessment structure with NCLB.  Tennessee is in its second year of implementation of new standards that are among the most rigorous in the country, which is a positive change for students. These more difficult standards and increasing benchmarks make it harder for districts and schools to make AYP.

 

This year’s data show:

 

The district has rebounded from the significant increase in state standards in 2009-10 and showed marked increase in achievement in 2010-11.

• We increased our scores for achievement in all four subjects: reading, science, math and social studies. Our letter grades rose in math and social studies to C’s, which are comparable to the rest of the state.


•  We made more progress in all grades for reading and math than the state target. Our overall three-year TVAAS (Tennessee Value Added Assessment System) grades went up significantly and our math scores increased a letter grade.


• The report card shows our high school graduation rate dropping from 82.9% in 2010, using a five-year calculation, to 76.2% in 2011, using a four-year calculation. We knew the change to a four- year rate would affect us more than most districts because we serve many English Learners and students with disabilities who benefit from a five-year program. Unfortunately, the four-year calculation does not allow the time appropriate for these students.


• We cut our dropout rate almost in half, from 4.4% to 2.3%, which means about 250 more students have remained in school.

 

To see results from the 2011 Tennessee Report Card, click here.

 

Also worthy of note, educators locally and nationally have pushed for new evaluation tools that more accurately reflect the academic progress of students, schools and school districts. Tennessee has submitted a request that would provide a waiver from some parts of the NCLB law and allow more flexibility for accountability.  The request can be found online here.