Fairley High, Coleman Elementary, Spring Hill Elementary, Westwood Elementary, and Frayser High schools will leave the merged Shelby County school system and become part of the state-run Achievement School District (ASD) next school year (2014-15). Each is being placed in the ASD due to chronic underperformance: The ASD takes over schools that are in the bottom five percent in the state. Earlier today, the schools were “matched” with charter school operators, which will set out to improve the schools’ performance dramatically. The charter operators are granted a ten-year charter and have autonomy over budget, hiring, academic/extracurricular programs, and hiring. KIPP Memphis will also be opening a new middle school next year as part of the ASD.
To give a sense of where the five existing schools are starting from in terms of the data, we’ve assembled the schools’ 2012-13 scores on Tennessee’s state standardized test, the TCAP, and on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System, or TVAAS, which gauges how much schools’ scores improve each year.
Charter Match: Green Dot
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above):
- Algebra I: 26.2
- Algebra II: 0
- Biology: 10 percent
- English I: 26 percent
- English II: 15 percent
- English III: 2.5 percent
- U.S. History: 82.9 percent
Demographics: More than 99 percent of its students are black and 92 percent of its students are classified as economically disadvantaged. Graduation Rate: 74 percent Number of students: 750
Charter Match: Aspire
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above)
- Math: 22 percent
- Reading/Language: 12 percent
- Science: 18 percent
- Social Studies: 60 percent
TVAAS Scores:
- Composite: 2
- Literacy: 1
- Numeracy: 5
- Literacy and Numeracy: 3
Demographics: Around 95 percent of its students are black and three percent are Hispanic. About 95 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged Number of Students: 515
Charter Match: Promise Academy
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above):
- Math: 24 percent
- Reading/Language: 19 percent
- Science: 18 percent
- Social Studies: 49 percent
TVAAS Scores:
- Composite: 1
- Literacy: 2
- Numeracy: 3
- Literacy and Numeracy: 2
Demographics: 95 percent of its students are black and 2 percent are hispanic. Around 96 percent of its students are classified as economically disadvantaged. Number of students: 435
Charter Match: Freedom Prep
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above)
- Math: 24 percent
- Reading/Language: 20 percent
- Science: 13 percent
- Social Studies: 65 percent
TVAAS Scores:
- Composite: 4
- Literacy: 1
- Numeracy: 5
- Numeracy and Literacy: 5
Demographics: Around 99 percent of its students are black and 94 percent are economically disadvantaged.
Number of students: 283
Charter Match: Gestalt
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above):
- Math: 14 percent
- English/Language: 14 percent
- Science: 25 percent
- Social Studies: 47 percent
TVAAS Scores:
- Composite: 1
- Literacy: 1
- Numeracy: 1
- Literacy and Numeracy: 1
Demographics: 87 percent of its students are black, 10 percent Hispanic and 3 percent are Asian. Around 91 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged.
Number of students: 836
Charter Match: Frayser Community Schools
TCAP scores (percent of students proficient or above):
- Algebra I: 16 percent
- Algebra II: 6 percent
- Biology: 12 percent
- English I: 15 percent
- English II: 11 percent
- English III: 6 percent
- US History: 71 percent
TVAAS Scores:
- Composite: 1
- Literacy: 1
- Numeracy: 1
- Literacy and Numeracy: 1
Demographics: 97 percent of its students are African American and 92 percent are economically disadvantaged.
Number of students: 550 students
Graduation Rate: 41 percent