Fairley, Westwood, Coleman, Spring Hill, Frayser, KIPP: A look at six new schools for state-run district

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.

Fairley High School

 

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

Coleman Elementary School

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

Spring Hill Elementary

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

Westwood Elementary

Charter MatchFreedom 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

Wooddale Middle School

Charter MatchGestalt

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

Frayser High School

Charter MatchFrayser 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