County schools improve in NCLP testing

Two Bedford County schools on high priority status according to federal No Child Left Behind standards have shown improvement this year, officials say.

The county school system as a whole has also moved into the state's "improving" status, along with Harris Middle School and Shelbyville Central High School, according to a press release issued by the Tennessee Department of Education.

"That means they made AYP (adequate yearly progress)," said Schools Superintendent Ed Gray. "We went to great lengths to improve our focus on non-proficient students."

Gray credits the system's adoption of new assessment tests as a direct cause of Harris and Central making AYP this year and moving into the "improving" status.

"We utilized a formative assessment test, which was given three times throughout the year," said Gray, explaining the results of the first assessment test allowed teachers to focus and work with lower performing students. "The teachers are to be congratulated on the work they did."

Gray also said system-wide after school tutoring programs, new this past academic year, helped schools make AYP.

"I think that helped tremendously," Gray said.

The school system is listed as on high priority status but showing improvement. Gray said a handful of students from each school can land the system as a whole on high priority.

For example, two students from one school not meeting goals, plus five from another, and 10 from yet another might put the county on high priority. That doesn't necessarily mean each individual school is on high priority, or failed to make AYP.

"It all accumulates on the system so we have to focus on every student," Gray said.

Central, Harris and the system are on high priority for failing to meet AYP for two consecutive years in the students with disabilities benchmark (special education), according to Gray.

"I had a huge load lifted off of me when the system made AYP (this year)," Gray said. "The system along with Central and Harris have to make it again this coming year to get off high priority status."

While Central, Harris, and the system, are moving in a positive direction, Gray reported that Community Middle School did not make AYP this year. In order to avoid being placed on high priority they must make AYP for the upcoming school year.

Along with Harris and Central, every school in Tennessee on high priority status showed improvement this year, the press release said. Another 42 schools across the state came off the high priority list, indicating they made AYP for two years in a row. This is a 50 percent increase over the number of schools that came off high priority last year.

Tennessee measures whether schools and school systems are making AYP toward the goal of 100 percent of students being proficient in reading and math with a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2014.