Knox Co. Schools state report card has big changes this year

Knox Co. Schools state report card has big changes this year

By WHITNEY HOLMES
6 News Anchor/Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The Tennessee Department of Education released its annual report card on pre-K through 12th grades on Tuesday. This year's scores came with some big changes.

If you look at Knox County's report card, you'll see all Bs and one C, compared to all As and Bs last year.

However, officials say parents shouldn't worry.

The school system's achievement hasn't declined. The difference is, standards have gotten tougher.

"Students have done well in Tennessee so their academic growth has increased. It's not meaningful to compare students to where they were in 1998," explains Knox County Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre. "So now they are comparing students to where we have been in 2009. It's a new baseline."

Starting this year, the curriculum for students has gotten tougher. The state began implementing the Tennessee Diploma Project, a broad overhaul of standards and curriculum designed to challenge students more.

The state is implementing this project because student performance has outpaced the 1998 results, making those standards inadequate.

New standards mean officials needed a new grade scale. In short, getting an A is tougher for the schools now.

The new assessment also sheds better light on weaknesses.

For instance, the data shows Dr. McIntyre that math is an area where Knox County students need to improve.

"Our growth score for math is not where it should be, so digging deeper we found that math in seventh, eighth and ninth grades are where we need to do additional work," McIntyre said.

He also plans to work on continuing growth in literacy.

An area that has improved for the schools is graduation rates. Last year, 81.4 percent of students graduated, compared to 79 percent the year before. Plus, fewer students dropped out.

Dr. McIntyre attributes this to strategies such as academies that help students make the transition to high school. "We focused on high school experiences, making sure they have adult relationships, and they have the support they need."

The school system also saw improvements in student growth and elementary reading.

Officials expect next year's report card to show some declines as students adjust to the new standards. It may be another year or so before the schools see better grades on the report card.