TNReady: Shelby County suburban districts in top 10

Five of Shelby County's suburban school districts ranked in the top 10 in TNReady state testing subjects, according to results released July 19.

Lakeland was No. 1 in the state in math and English for grades three through five, and ranked sixth in English for grades sixth through eighth.

Germantown ranked second in math for grades three through five and for grades sixth through eighth, plus scoring in the top 10 in five other categories. Third- through fifth-graders in Collierville also scored high, ranking second in the state for English, in addition to making the top 10 in six other categories.

Arlington made the top 10 in five areas, including third in the state in math for grades three through five.

Bartlett ranked in the top 10 twice in the results — eighth for math and 10th for English in grades three through five.

The results don't count this year against teachers, students or schools after a slew of TNReady online testing issues this spring. Many students had problems logging in to the online system, and they eventually had trouble submitting their tests.

The state General Assembly passed a law banning the use of the tests if they hurt a student's grade or a teacher's evaluation.

But there's still information to glean from the results, and superintendents will have to decide whether the data is significant enough to inform decisions for next year.

"I think you can certainly see trends, certainly strengths and weaknesses," Lakeland School System Superintendent Ted Horrell said Thursday.

The state will release scores for individual schools at a later date.

The data released Thursday for Shelby’s suburban districts:

Arlington

For high school students in Arlington, 42.1 percent scored proficient in English and 37.2 percent proficient in math. More than half of Arlington's third- through eighth-graders were proficient in English (56.3 percent) and math (61.7).

In science, 82.7 percent of fifththrough eighth-graders were proficient, ranking the school at number five in the state. Arlington also topped the state in improvement in science in grades six through eight. Students took an older version of the state test in science because the state has not yet transitioned to TNReady for that subject. This is the last year they will take the old test before the difficulty increases significantly next year.

Scores for third- through fifth-grade math showed 76.3 percent proficient, ranking Arlington third in the state.

Arlington Community Schools said in a statement that the results "show that Arlington Community Schools continues to rank among the best in the state for achievement and growth."

“We should be proud of our students and teachers for the work they put forth in the 2017-2018 school year,” Superintendent Tammy Mason said. “We continue to compete with the best of the best in the state and region, and we

Katie Fretland and Abigail Warren

should celebrate those achievements. I look forward to working with our educators this upcoming school year to make sure we’re improving in all categories.”

Bartlett

In Bartlett, 44.4 percent of thirdthrough eighth-graders were proficient in English and language arts, and more than half (50.2 percent) were proficient in math. For the district's high school students, 37.2 percent proficient were proficient in English and 28.3 percent in math.

"We are proud to report that the students in our district placed in the top 10 in the state based on overall achievement for elementary (grades 3-5) in both (English and language arts) and math," spokesman Jason Sykes said. "Bartlett City Schools consistently outperformed the state in all other tested subjects.

"In middle school (grades 6-8), our district saw an increase in the number of students who performed at the on track or mastered level in all subject areas, while the state experienced declines. In high school (grades 9-12), we continued to outpace the state in all tested subjects. We appreciate the hard work of our students and teachers and look forward to using these results to support our teachers as they prepare students for future successes."

Collierville

Collierville ranked in the top five for overall achievement statewide:

❚ Grades 3-5 English Language Arts: No. 2 ❚ Grades 5-8 Science: No. 4 ❚ Grades 6-8 English Language Arts: No. 4 ❚ Grades 3-5 Math: No. 5. “These results testify to the outstanding dedication of Collierville Schools educators, students, and parents, and they reflect the district’s unwavering commitment to its core values of scholarship, integrity, and service,” Collierville Schools spokesman Jeff Jones said in a statement July 19.

The scores show that 64.6 percent of third- through eighth-graders were proficient in math, surpassing the state average of 37.3 percent, and 62.4 percent were proficient in English and language arts, also up from the state average of 33.9 percent.

High school scores fell, but remained above the state average. Thirty-nine percent of high school students in Collierville were proficient in math, a drop of 10 percentage points, but above the state average of 22.5 percent. In English, 42.4 percent were proficient, surpassing the state average of 29.4 percent but representing a drop of 20 percentage points over last year.

Collierville Schools said that "in spite of technological challenges that contributed to a difficult testing environment, Collierville Schools students outperformed their grade level peers statewide in every subject and in every grade band — including a gap of nearly 33 percentage points in Grades 3-5 Math and a gap of more than 32 percentage points in Grades 3-5 English Language Arts."

Germantown

Germantown Municipal School District students in grades 3-8 performed well above the state average. While 33.9 percent of students were proficient in English language arts statewide, 62.7 percent of Germantown Municipal’s School District Students scored proficiently in English Language Arts. That number increased 1.2 percentage points from last year. In math, 69.6 percent of Germantown’s grade 3-8 students were proficient, up 3.4 percent from last year.

Houston High students scored much worse than last year in both English language arts and math. Last year, 71.5 percent students were considered proficient in English and 55 percent were considered proficient in math.

However, this year they saw a 20.6 percentage points decrease in English language arts as 50.9 students scored on track or above. In math, there was a 17.8 percentage points decrease as 37.2 percent of students scored proficiently.

“The fact that the test failed is upsetting for us,” GMSD Superintendent Jason Manuel said. “We’re hopeful the state will find a system that works, but we still focus on preparing students.”

He said the district has benchmark programs throughout the year though so TNReady is not the only way it gauges students’ progress. He said an increase in ACT scores is a sign of their progress.

Lakeland

Lakeland schools saw a drop in percentage points this year in English language arts and math for grade 3-5 students, but still topped the state.

In English, 68.8 percent of students scored proficiently, down 2.4 percentage points, and in math, and 79.9 percent, down 4.1 percentage points.

In grades six through eight, 51.5 percent of students scored proficiently in English and 48 percent of students scored proficiently in math.

Lakeland School System Superintendent Ted Horrell said he was pleased with the results, despite a few dips in scores year over year.

"We’re still going to try to get better," he said.

Horrell said because of the online testing issues, which affected his middle school students, the results are useful but he's taking them "with a grain of salt."

Millington

Millington’s 3-8 grade students scored below the state average in math and English language arts. In math, they had an increase of 1.8 percentage points as 34.1 percent of students scored proficiently. English language arts saw a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from last year as 25.3 percent of students scored proficiently.

At the high school level, Millington scored below the state average in English and math. Twenty percent of students scored proficiently in English, down 6.5 percentage points from last year. In math, they increased 4.4 percentage points from last year, but only 12.2 percent of the high school students are proficient in math.

The district however ranked among the most improved in third- through fifth-grade science.

Reporter Jennifer Pignolet contributed.