Tennessee A-F letter grades are out: 1-in-4 schools could face action, audits
More than a quarter of Tennessee's public K-12 schools could face corrective action and audits from the state after receiving Ds or Fs under a new grading system.
Tennessee released letter grades for every public K-12 school in the state on Thursday, putting a law first passed in 2016 into effect. The grades were long delayed by technical issues with testing and disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The grading system has stirred controversy since its inception. Advocates say letter grades are a simpler, more transparent way for parents to understand school performance.
Opponents say the new system unfairly favors proficiency on standardized tests, instead of overall academic growth from year to year, making it harder for schools to earn As or Bs. Some have raised concerns that the grades will further stigmatize public schools, and others have pointed to the underfunding of those schools.
"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," Tennessee Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds said in a news release. "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."
Tanya T. Coats, an educator from Knox County who heads the Tennessee Education Association, said the state already had an easy-to-understand, comprehensive report card system that accounted for things like absenteeism, graduation rates and college and career readiness — things not reflected well by letter grades. She pointed to how letter grades have caused harm in other states and called for Tennessee to repeal or heavily amend its newly effective law.
"It is insulting to students, parents, educators and communities to label our schools with a single letter grade weighted heavily on a flawed high-stakes standardized test," Coats said in the statement Thursday, shortly after the public release of the grades. "It is impossible to capture the hard work of Tennessee students and educators with such a simplistic rating."
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said recently the city has "deep concerns" about how education officials developed the letter grades and continues to review the state's compliance with the law.
"We're continuing to coordinate both with Metro Schools and other jurisdictions across Tennessee to ensure that stronger accountability measures are implemented legally," he said. "What I can tell you is that Metro Schools has shown positive growth in the last two years — the highest level of measured growth impact, outpacing other districts across the state, and outpacing state levels on average."
Schools that receive a D or F may be asked to appear before the State Board of Education. They also may be required to follow a corrective plan or even face academic and financial audits. These things would not apply until the 2024-25 school year. Details on how the process will work are still being worked out, according to a board spokesperson.
Nearly half of the schools that received Fs are within the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district. The remaining letter grades were largely scattered across the rest of the state.
How it works: Tennessee officials map out school A-F letter grade plan, state board members voice concern
Here's how letter grades broke down statewide, according to data released by the Tennessee Department of Education:
A: 294 schools (17.4%)
B: 441 schools (26.09%)
C: 513 schools (30.36%)
D: 350 schools (20.71%)
F: 92 schools (5.44%)
An additional 210 schools did not receive a letter grade due to "data suppression and business rules," according to the education department. For example, some public school programs geared toward adult learners would not be given a letter grade, a department official told The Tennessean. In total, Tennessee has around 1,700 public K-12 schools eligible for letter grades, according to department data.
The new grading system weights achievement and growth scores, which measure year-over-year academic progress for students. High schools have an additional weight added for college and career readiness indicators, like SAT and ACT scores.
Find out what letter grade your school received
Curious about what letter grade a specific school earned? Visit reportcard.tnedu.gov, select the "letter grades" tab along the top and enter the name of the school in the search bar to look it up.
A downloadable dataset for the entire state is also available at tn.gov/education/districts/federal-programs-and-oversight/data/data-downloads. Scroll down to the "additional data" section and select the "school letter grade" drop down menu to access it.
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What advocates, opponents say about school letter grades
Reynolds, a prominent school choice advocate, took office in July and said she was intent on implementing policies the state legislature and Gov. Bill Lee had established — including school letter grades.
When asked about possible disciplinary actions for schools that receive a D or F during a Nov. 2 State Board of Education meeting, Reynolds stopped short of detailing those steps, saying they were "publicly noted."
"We're not going to go in there and take away their money or slap them around," Reynolds told the board. "The public will know how they’re doing with their kids. At the end of the day, it’s got to be about the kids."
Darrell Cobbins, the vice chair for the State Board of Education, voiced his concern over the disproportionate negative impact the grades could have on high poverty schools. He said schools facing chronic challenges like poverty and violence that trickle down to students will likely repeatedly end up receiving Fs.
"Does it become a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers, students, families opt out for something better?" Cobbins said. "It's a struggle for me to understand saying everyone should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, when some folks have a closet full of boots and some have none."
An education department official said the state heard the concerns about the impact of things like poverty, housing insecurity and community violence on academic performance for students. In response, the department added a 10% weight for academic growth of students in the highest need category, defined by the bottom 25% academic performers in each school.
Until now, public school performance was solely rated on the state's report card on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being the highest. Each school received an overall performance score, along with scores in categories like achievement, growth, absenteeism and English language proficiency.
The number system will remain, alongside the grades, according to a spokesperson for the state education department. The state report card is expected to update after the New Year with school-level scores from the 2023 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests, which will in turn update the number ratings for each school.
How districts across Middle Tennessee fared
Here is a look at how A-F letter grades panned out for 12 districts around the Middle Tennessee region.
Cheatham County School District
A: 1
B: 5
C: 5
D: 1
F: 0
Clarksville-Montgomery County School System
A: 9
B: 11
C: 10
D: 11
F: 0
Dickson County School District
A: 4
B: 7
C: 2
D: 1
F: 1
Franklin Special School District (Williamson County)
A: 4
B: 1
C: 3
D: 0
F: 0
Maury County Public Schools
A: 2
B: 5
C: 9
D: 3
F: 2
Metro Nashville Public Schools
A: 10
B: 27
C: 48
D: 44
F: 14
Murfreesboro City Schools (Rutherford County)
A: 2
B: 7
C: 2
D: 2
F: 0
Robertson County Schools
A: 1
B: 1
C: 8
D: 8
F: 0
Rutherford County Schools
A: 20
B: 17
C: 7
D: 4
F: 0
Sumner County Schools
A: 14
B: 16
C: 15
D: 4
F: 0
Williamson County Schools
A: 24
B: 16
C: 9
D: 1
F: 0
Wilson County Schools
A: 10
B: 7
C: 6
D: 0
F: 0
Tennessee sought public input on letter grades
In August and September, the state education department hosted a series of town halls and small group conversations open to the public, along with opportunities to engage on social media and submit written comments. The goal was to discuss the best way to measure school performance and to create transparency around what the new letter grades mean.
From August: Tennessee schools to receive A-F letter grades this fall, leaders seek public input
A series of 10 town hall meetings were hosted in Dickson, Greeneville, Bartlett, Memphis, Dyersburg, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Cookeville, Nashville and Shelbyville from mid-August to early September. Public comment submissions also drew around 300 responses.
Recordings of the town hall meetings, along with more information on the new letter grades, can be found at tn.gov/education/SchoolLetterGrades.
Reach reporter Rachel Wegner at RAwegner@tennessean.com or find her on Twitter, Threads and Bluesky @RachelAnnWegner.
Learn more
The state education department provided a fact sheet and FAQ on school letter grades. See it for yourself below.
https://www.scribd.com/document/694087788/A-F-letter-grade-FAQ-and-info-sheet
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee letter grades: 25% of schools may face discipline, audits
