Let the bashing begin. The State Department of Education has released district-by-district achievement test scores.
Student performance on the 2012 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program improved significantly in school districts across the state. Nearly all of the state’s 136 districts saw proficiently levels increase, and two-thirds improved in every subject of the 3-8 TCAP Achievement tests.
Memphis made improvements in math and reading at the high school and lower-grades levels. Shelby County made bigger improvements and had, as usual, higher numbers of students in the “proficient” and “advanced” categories.
District proficiency levels reveal major improvements in math skills. More than 50 districts saw double-digit growth over last year in Algebra I, with some reporting gains greater than 30 percentage points. Additionally, 23 districts saw double-digit growth in grades 3-8 math.
In Memphis, in grades 3-8, 27.6 percent of students were proficient or advanced in math and 29.2 percent were proficient or advanced in reading. In high school, 33.8 were in those categories in algebra 1 and 43.2 percent in English 1.
In Shelby County, in grades 3-8. 57.4 percent were proficient or advanced in math and 61.3 percent in reading. In high school, 60.2 percent were proficient or advanced in Algebra 1 and 74.3 percent in English 1.
In the future unified Shelby County Schools, the scores will be lumped together. But the outcome of the municipal schools issue will impact the results.
