With Bedford County schools having earned a “satisfactory” state ranking this year, there is much work to be done. Recently, Tim Harwell, assistant school superintendent, discussed the immediate game plan to move the system up the state expectation ladder.

But in defense of school districts, state accountability standards can change quite frequently. It can sometimes be hard to catch up, Harwell recently told the T-G.

In addition, there are new curriculums added along the way. This is now a math adoption year. “We are going to be adopting curriculum . . . math textbooks across K-12,” says Harwell. “We may stay with our IReady Math with grades K-8.”

That is yet to be determined in this math adoption year. But Harwell reveals for grades 6-12, there really haven’t been any updates to textbooks and curriculum for several years. “We’re really looking at that and trying our best to adopt the right curriculum . . . textbook that will address the rigors of the standards.”

Harwell said it was in 2009, when the state raised the bar to a much more rigorous expectation regarding accountability standards. Based on current standards, the system overall must be at 45 percentile in its achievement.

While Bedford County is not ranked at the bottom in accountability among school districts, Harwell said of course the system wants to move up ultimately to the highest rung, which is exemplary. Harwell said the education system must improve for many reasons, but also to keep up with state protocols, which could get even higher in the future.

Based on the 2021-22 data, Harwell explains how growth (value added assessment) was the major area in need of improvement within Bedford County. Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, better known as TVAAS, is a statistical method used to measure the influence of a district, school, or teacher on the academic progress (growth rates) of individual students or groups of students from year to year.

Out of 5 possible levels, with 5 being best, Bedford County scored a Level 1 in system-wide numeracy and Level 3 in social studies. The early grades (grade 3) had a system-wide composite of a Level 5. Science achievement, which was in this testing cycle, was at a Level 1 in Bedford County for 2021.

Bedford County had six schools that achieved a Level 3 or above in growth. Cascade Middle and Community Elementary both earned Level 5s. Shelbyville Central High School is at a Level 4 and Cascade High, Eakin and East Side elementary schools scored at Level 3.

When talking about TVAAS, the waters can get even muddier, according to Harwell. But he says he never uses excuses to justify accountability scores. “When you start using things as an excuse, you almost feel like you can take the foot off the pedal. When you take the foot off the pedal, what happens? You don’t move forward.”

Subgroups are added into the state accountability pie. Subgrouping within TVAAS adds in any socioeconomic disadvantages students may be experiencing that affect overall growth and achievement.

Bedford County’s subgroup score for achievement last year was 1.37. That number is averaged together with overall student achievement, which was 1.58 last year, for an overall average of 1.5 or “satisfactory” ranking for Bedford County.

Harwell said that within ELPA or the English Language Proficiency Assessment, there was quite a bit of success or growth. He said some students eventually test out of those services and that is the system’s objective.

ELPA measures a student’s proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, listening to, and understanding English. It comprises two assessments: the screener assessment and the summative assessment.

Of course there has to be some type of long-range plan by the school system to meet those state expectations. Harwell has provided the plan to Bedford County Board of Education.

The academic action plan for the coming year is to conduct walkthroughs at schools and in classrooms and provide timely feedback. As well, the system is planning to ensure that state standards are taught in their entirety in Bedford County.

The system plans in the way of “high quality instruction” to create vertical teams to align and implement instructional focus and priorities district-wide. Classroom observations are being conducted, whereby improvement plans are being devised to achieve high-quality instruction, frequent data analysis, effective collaborative planning and coaching.

The system will also focus on grade level standards, skills and address deficit skills. Again, subgroup focus is also necessary, especially with older students who may be from other countries—those who have not received formal education in their own countries.

Educators will continue, via this plan, to provide ongoing professional development on the use of standards-based activities, brain-based research, literacy, ACT strategies, critical thinking skills, student engagement and effective questioning techniques.

Harwell said there are model questions that students are given throughout the year, prior to taking the state tests. “We want to practice how we’re going to play on game day. We want to practice throughout the year what that test is going to look like . . . .”

There are also Benchmark assessments conducted throughout the year. Those assessments basically have questions very similar to those on the TCAP and end of the year (EOC) tests. There is something to be said, he added, for knowing how to take the state tests—time management being a big factor.

Harwell said while uncomfortable in some cases, there is a need for these accountability measures. “We have to know what we’re being gauged by in order to establish those goals, game plans, objectives in order to meet those accountability measures.”

Harwell said he believes Bedford County educators do a good job of balancing out all aspects of accountability. “This is a tool. Our objective is to provide the best education we can to our students. Education is a broad term. It is much more than test scores. Education is making sure that students are safe . . . why we brought on staff like an SEL (social emotional learning) person. We’re addressing that now. That also carries over to our teachers as well, having things in place for them when they need help.”

The system has what it calls Parent University sessions throughout the year, Harwell revealed. The planned sessions are communicated through social media and the school system website. Topics range from school safety to health tips.

A former high school principal, Harwell says parents should always feel comfortable with reaching out to their child’s teacher. He said the best case scenario is for parents and teachers to have an open line of communication.

He said often times, the conversation from parent to child is, ‘How was school today?’ He encourages parents to ask more detailed questions and even ask to see the child’s agenda. Parents can go into Skyward (online access available through school system) and check their student’s progress and even attendance.

“I know schools are improving their communication . . . resources on sites that parents can refer to. There are a multitude of ways . . . if a parent is wanting to know how to help their child. First and foremost, just ask.”