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The number of Memphis schools earning the state’s top academic status increased this year, even as 39 schools are performing at the lowest level, according to a list published by the Tennessee Department of Education on Friday.
Schools with low achievement, called “priority” schools, will face a new intervention model passed by state lawmakers in the spring. Those repeatedly found at the bottom of Tennessee’s performance ladder could be closed or converted to charters.
It’s unclear when those actions will be decided for the 2024-25 priority schools, which total over 100 statewide. Receiving that designation means schools either fall in the bottom 5% of student performance on state assessments or graduate less than two-thirds of their students each year.
“As Tennessee’s largest district, MSCS serves students who often face economic challenges, housing instability, food insecurity, and other barriers,” Superintendent Roderick Richmond said in an emailed press release. Priority status “reflects where more intentional support is needed, not the limits of our students’ potential,” he added.
See if your school falls on the priority list by searching the table below.
Tennessee leaders gave 44 MSCS schools the “reward” status this year, meaning students are performing or improving at the highest level in the state. That’s 10 more schools placing in that top category compared to last year, the Memphis district said. Statewide, the reward category increased by over 80 schools.
Find out if that’s where your school falls here:
According to the new state model, local districts create their own intervention plans for first-time priority schools. But those found again on the next priority list, which is typically released every three years, will now face state intervention.
Thirty-four of the MSCS schools identified as priority schools this year have borne that label before. That includes two of the four schools Richmond recommended for closure this year, Frayser-Corning Elementary and Chickasaw Middle, and Lucy Elementary, which Richmond recommended to transfer to Millington Municipal School District.
Seven MSCS schools are identified as “Comprehensive Support and Improvement” schools by the federal government, but not as state priority schools. That’s because they have yet to meet required exit criteria, the district said.
The new state intervention model comes on the heels of the dissolving Achievement School District, or ASD, which placed 33 Memphis and Nashville schools under state control in 2016. The district is largely considered unsuccessful, with research suggesting that ASD students actually did worse on high school tests.
MSCS leaders have to decide whether to close or take over control of the last two remaining ASD schools by June.
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
