Two county schools on state 'high priority list'

A Tennessee Department of Education annual progress report has placed two Bedford County schools on its "high priority list" for failing to meet performance standards under the federal No Child Left Behind guidelines for the 2007-2008 school year.

The report, released July 28, cited Harris Middle School and Shelbyville Central High School, along with 132 other Tennessee schools, for failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two years in a row.

While the state as a whole showed improvement in the progress report (there are five fewer schools on the high priority list this year compared to 2007), Ed Gray, school superintendent, said he was disappointed with the news.

"We're not proud of some of our test scores and we're making improvements in several areas," Gray said.

Tennessee measures whether schools and districts are making AYP toward goals for 100 percent of students being proficient in reading and math, and a 90 percent graduation rate, by 2014. Schools not meeting benchmarks in the same subject area for two years are considered high priority and receive additional support and interventions from the state, according to a Department of Education press release.

Gray said Harris Middle School failed to make goals in math and reading for students with disabilities and Central failed to make goals in reading for economically disadvantaged students for the second year in a row.

"We failed in two subgroups," he said. "There are 35 different (subgroups) you can fail in AYP ... we missed (these subgroups) for two years in a row so now we have to make (the goal) two years in a row," in order to come off the high priority list.

Gray said that both schools must submit improvement plans of action to the state by Oct. 15. The schools are currently working on their plans of action, Gray reported Wednesday.

"We are going to do quite a few things differently," he said. "We are hiring an intervention coach for Harris Middle and an instructional coach for all county schools. We have areas to improve on but we can't forget the other areas because there are 35 different (subgroups) we can fail."

Tennessee performance benchmarks for achieving AYP increased for the second time this year, making it more difficult to attain AYP across the board. The percentage of students that must test proficient in math and reading/language increased on average five to six percentage points at the elementary and high school levels, according to the release.

"Tennessee schools are showing excellent progress in meeting demands of No Child Left Behind," said Tim Webb, education commissioner. "However, Tennessee's primary focus remains our state's work to raise the academic standards to which we hold students in order to prepare them for a better future after high school. The education Tennessee students receive, not testing, is our mission."