“Someone can decide it’s in their best interests to agree to something, but a choice is only really a choice if there’s a genuine alternative. Otherwise it’s manipulation and it’s taking advantage.”
― Jane Harper, The Lost Man
Last week, Metro Nashville Public Schools held a press conference celebrating the findings of a national study on academic recovery efforts. The group, comprised of researchers from Harvard and Stanford, found that MNPS ranked 3rd in Math and ELA among 100 districts for growth from 2022 - 2023. The district was one of only 2 large urban districts that ranked in the top 10 for both math and reading.
MNPS administrators and School Board members were rightfully proud.
“These rankings are a powerful statement about the connections happening between students and teachers every day in classrooms across Nashville and Davidson County,” MNPS Board of Education Chairwoman Rachael Anne Elrod said. “Under Dr. Battle’s leadership and with the Board’s support, the district is making tremendous strides, and while I’m not surprised, I am thrilled to see this validation of our strategic direction.”
But remember it's not always what they want you to look at, but often what they don't want you looking at. That's where the interesting things begin. Yesterday the Tennessee Department of Education released state school and district designations for the 2022-23 school year, including Reward schools, Exemplary districts..
I should say, that yesterday the TDOE released a press release on the designations which have been available for a couple weeks now.
Remember, this year schools receive separate grades from the state and federal departments of education. in an effort to reform the existing formula, Commissioner Reynolds chose to uncouple the Federal school accountability formula from the state formula.
State letter grades are based almost entirely on student performance on the state's annual TCAP exam.
For the federal designations, schools are recognized as reward schools when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement in performance by meeting objectives across performance indicators and student groups, and the Reward school distinction places significant emphasis on performance and improvement across all indicators from the prior school year. It's still test-driven but includes other factors...like the ones included in the previous accountability model used by the TDOE before the arrival of Tennessee Lizzette Reynolds.
In other words, a month ago the state released its grades based on its exciting new formula, and now they are releasing the federal designations based on...Tennessee's previous formula. Now that's helpful ain't it?
According to federal designations, 400 Tennessee schools earned reward status. That is compared to only 294 schools that received an "A" under Reynolds's revised formula.
MNPS has 19 schools that earned reward status. A little over 10% of the schools in the district.
Two charter schools - Valor and East End Prep - made the list swell.
To put things in context, last year the district was bragging about 34 schools being designated with Reward School status. From 34 to 19 is a fairly precipitous drop.
Per The Tennessean, the TDOE did not release a priority school list this year.
"After delays in federal accountability approvals from the U.S. Department of Education, and the first-ever implementation of the A-F school letter grade law this school year, the department has elected not to update the state's priority school list and focus on supporting schools and districts in the implementation of policies and strategies designed to improve student outcomes."
Just because they did not release a list, does not mean the list is not available.
Schools with overall school scores in the bottom five percent statewide for the performance of a given student group are identified as Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools. MNPS had 5 of those.
In 2023, a school can be identified for Comprehensive Support and Intervention when (1) the school was newly identified in 2023; or (2) the school was identified for CSI in 2022 and failed to exit in 2023; or (3) the school was identified for CSI in 2022 and exited in 2023, yet it was identified again in 2023, or (4) the school was in the Achievement School District (ASD) during the 2022-23 school year and remains in ASD in 2023-24; or (5) the school has a new school ID in 2023-24 with at least 50% of enrollment from a closed school(s) identified for CSI in 2023. A school newly identified for CSI in 2023 exhibits low student performance by failing in the bottom five percent of performance or by having a graduation rate less than 67%. A school identified for CSI in 2022 must demonstrate improvement in student performance or growth in 2023 in order to exit.
MNPS has 18 schools that made the CSI list. Which is about the same as last year.
In comparison, school letter grades-wise, Nashville had 10 "A" schools and 14 "F" schools.
Let's have some fun now. Let's compare the Reward School list to the A-F grading list. Paragon Mills Es earned Reward School status but is graded a "C" by the TDOE. The same holds true for Ida B Wells ES, Dodson ES, and Meigs Middle School.
John B Whittsitt ES, another Reward School, earns the grade of a "B".
Eakin ES, Harpeth Hall ES, Julia Green, and Glendale ES all scored at the highest level in both systems. But, seeing as those schools are made up of kids from some of the wealthiest families in Nashville, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that they receive the highest grades.
Having two systems is kinda confusing and runs counter to the words of Commissioner Reynolds, “School letter grades will provide Tennessee families with a clear rating system that gives them a snapshot of how their child’s school is performing,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “No matter what your school’s letter grade is, everyone can play a role in supporting the success of our students and the success of our schools by engaging with your local school communities and joining the conversation.”
How is any of this clear to anybody? I'd argue that you've taken a confusing system and made it completely incoherent.
Here's another baffling point for me, Martin Luther King Jr Magnet School earned top honors in both systems. MLK is a perennial Reward School. Yet MNPS is trying to restructure the school and break up the grade levels it serves.
“It’s disappointing that MNPS would want to eliminate two of the grades that feed into the high school because it is a part of what makes them so successful as a whole,” MLK parent Arica Rucker told the Nashville Scene. Rucker has two children who have attended MLK, plus a fourth-grader she was planning to enroll there. Because these changes would affect her fourth-grader, Rucker says her family is considering other options
Why would you screw with a formula that is clearly working when you have so many that are clearly not?
Why not focus on the stuff that is broken, and leave the stuff that is functioning alone?
But that's education policy in Tennessee, up is always down, and down is always up.
Complicating the matter further for MLK parents, the school currently does not have a school board member representing them. Former District 5 representative Christiane Buggs resigned from her position in January to take over as Executive Director for the education nonprofit PENCIL. Whether the city will appoint a temporary board member before this year’s election is unclear.
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Two interesting bills were up for consideration during yesterday's Tennessee House K-12 Subcommittee meeting.
The first, HB 1685, would change from August 15 to May 15 the date by which a child must be five years of age to enroll in kindergarten. It would take away school superintendents' rights to grant an exception if enacted.
The bill is being carried by Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson). If you've spent any time on the X. you've likely come across Barett's blunt assessment of his Democratic counterpart's mental capacity. He is rarely timid in his evaluation.
Help me here, Tennessee has a Republican supermajority who believe in local control and parental rights, yet one of the most vocal critics of the Left is championing a bill that takes away both.
Furthermore, Conservatives hypothetically believe in small government, yet Barrett's bill would grow government.
Districts currently have the power to set their own policies, so why do they need more. Perhaps we are looking at a classic example of little.brother/big brother.
Superintendents want to state to act so that they don't have to be the bad guys.
I have to wonder just how often this issue actually comes up. Are superintendents being inundated with waves of fourth graders seeking entry to Kindergarten?
In addressing the committee, Barrett listed a long line of terrible things that happened to him as a result of his parents choosing to enroll him in school at an early age. That's probably where he ought to address his concerns, before crafting legislation.
I get so confused, which issues again am I, as a parent, the most qualified to address?
For the record, my child is a late September baby who started as a four-year-old.
Barrett's bill failed to pass out of the sub-committee to the full education committee.
The other notable bill was HB 2758. This bill would require LEAs and public charter schools to prohibit students from displaying, using, or accessing an electronic device during instructional time unless the electronic device is authorized, or provided to the student, by the LEA or public charter school for instructional purposes; requires local boards of education and public charter school governing bodies to develop and adopt a policy to implement the prohibition.
Yep, we got to get those phones out of the hands of the kids. At least until they enter the workforce where they will be much less limited.
I get it, phones are a challenge, but they are also part of modern life. At this time, the idea of "banning" their usage is likely to be as successful as other efforts at banishment have been. If we start banning every modern convince with an annoying side, I've got a long list for consideration.
Instead of urging districts to develop plans that take a futuristic and progressive view of phones, legislators are looking to be regressive and prevent anyone else from developing a more active policy. Teachers who do create a plan for their classroom could have it overridden by a district mandate.
Over the years, I've had quite a few teachers write me and tell me how they've incorporated phones into lesson plans. This bill would potentially rob those teachers of any initiative to help students find a balance between phone time and instructional time.
Ironically, over the years, when I talk phone bans in school with my kids, they cite a school shooting and the ability to contact their mother and I if such were to happen. The modern world, remember?
Several lawmakers asked if districts currently can create phone bans. The answer was affirmative.
It was then asked what the penalty would be for violating the law. That would be up to the local district.
So why are we considering this again?
And how does it fall under conservative principles again?
Unfortunately, this one passed on to the full House Education Committee.
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Time to rattle the cup a little bit before I head out the door.
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