WHY THREE SCHOOLS RECEIVED F’S
Parents and community members whose Hamilton County public schools received an F on their initial school letter grades, as assigned recently by the state, may be wondering how they got there.
In other words, what happened? What went wrong? While the state offers more information on school letter grades, including resources for parents and educators, by visiting https://www.tn.gov/education/schoollettergrades.html, we believe some readily available data might give those who are interested a clue as to how the grades were determined.
The three schools which received F’s were Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy, Harrison Elementary and Tyner Middle Academy.
Half the weight in determining a school’s letter grades comes from its academic achievement, which, in this case, means how well the students in a school know the skills required for their particular grade level as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test. Forty percent of the grade comes from growth of all students in the school as compared to their peers across the state, and 10% comes from growth of students who rank in the school’s bottom 25% of students based on achievement.
› Calvin Donaldson: TCAP scores show only 11.2% of students at the Alton Park school meet or exceed grade-level expectations in the three subjects measured — English language arts, math and science. Their scores, while improved over 2022 tests results, are still more than 30 points lower in science and nearly 30 points lower in language arts and math than the Hamilton County district average.
Further, its overall growth score was a 1, the lowest possible mark, although the growth score for the highest-need students was a 4.
The heavily minority school’s overall score was 1.3, putting it on the high end of the range for F’s (1.0-1.4).
› Harrison: TCAP scores show only 16% of students at the Highway 58 area school — which was a
2020 consolidation into a new building of students at the old Harrison Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary and Lakeside Academy schools — meet or exceed grade-level expectations in the three main subject areas. Like those at Calvin Donaldson, their scores in the three areas all improved over 2022, but they were still more than 20 points below district averages in all three areas.
Its overall growth score also was a 1, as were the growth scores of students in all three main subject areas. However, the growth for the highest-need students was a 3, and growth scores for Hispanics, English learners and students with disabilities were also 3’s.
The overall score for the school, with 74% minority students, was 1.2 (on the F scale of 1.0-1.4).
Since the old Harrison Elementary always did much better on TCAP tests than the combined school, some may see a cautionary tale in combining several schools into one as is being suggested in the current school facilities plan being debated by the Hamilton County School board and the Hixson and Red Bank communities involved. But we believe the reasons why a school does well on TCAP tests goes well beyond simply the size of the school.
› Tyner Middle Academy: TCAP scores show only 13.8% of students at the Tyner community school meet or exceed grade-level expectations in the three main subject areas. Their marks are from 20 to 30 percentage points lower than the district averages in all three subjects.
The school’s overall growth score, like the other two schools with the same letter grade, was a 1. However, it did achieve growth scores of 3 in literacy, growth for the highestneed students, students with disabilities and white students.
The overall score for the school, with 95% minority students, was 1.2 (on the F scale of 1.0-1.4).
The district is currently building a new school in which will both the middle school and Tyner Academy (high school) will be combined. Whether the new environment will improve academic and growth scores, of course, remains to be seen.
Before the release of the letter grades earlier this month, Hamilton County Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson and others suggested the timing of the release of the grades and the announcement that Gov. Bill Lee would attempt to widen his education savings account program was no coincidence. The idea was that the public would want to take their children out of schools that received low grades and opt for private schools where they could use the education scholarships.
We don’t believe there will be a clamor to leave the specific schools, but an expectation that they would improve is not out of order. We’re sure the superintendent and the school’s principals, faculty and staff are already working on that. But, in the name of transparency, it’s good for all concerned to know where their schools stand and why.