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CURRENT TENNESSEE SCHOOLS REPORT CARD
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The Tennessee Education Improvement Act of 1992 established accountability standards for all public schools in the state and required the Department of Education to produce a Report Card for the public to assess each year.

Tennessee state law (Tennessee Code Annotated 49-1-601) has since been amended to match regulations in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for meeting required federal benchmarks for all schools, school systems, and the state. Additionally, the State Board of Education has revised its performance standards and requirements to meet performance criteria in the new federal law.

The goal of NCLB is to ensure that all students in all schools are academically proficient in math, reading and language arts by 2014. Until that time, schools, school systems and the state will be measured on their ability to move toward that goal. In other words, schools, school systems, and the state must show that a greater percentage of its students are meeting required proficiency standards.

Schools, school systems and the state must meet proficiency benchmarks in nine subgroups, including five race/ethnicity groups; students with disabilities; limited English proficient students; economically disadvantaged students; and the school as a whole.

Tennessee’s 2004 Report Card delineates the transition from use of a norm referenced assessment (used under the state’s previous accountability system) to a criterion referenced assessment (used under NCLB) to measure student performance. Tennessee administered both norm referenced and criterion referenced tests in the spring of 2004. Since each student took both tests, this has enabled an equating of the two tests such that previous norm referenced test data can be mapped onto the criterion referenced scale. After mapping onto the criterion referenced scale, the data were converted into state normal curve equivalents (NCEs) using the 1998 data as a base. If a school has an NCE of 50, then that school’s mean achievement score would be equal to the state average in 1998.

The Report Card is organized in four parts or sections: Demographics, Student Achievement, Value Added (TVAAS data), and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Data required by No Child Left Behind are defined in drop-down boxes containing explanations for each criterion. Grades are assigned to appropriate criteria, and a grade scale is available for explanation of specific scaling.

Schools and school systems that do not meet required federal benchmarks for one year are assigned the status of “Target.” Schools and school systems that do not meet the federal benchmark for two or more consecutive years in the same category are assigned the status of “High Priority.”

CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE
CURRENT TENNESSEE SCHOOLS REPORT CARD
(A NEW BROWSER WINDOW WILL OPEN)