Tennessee’s lowest performing schools now get lumped into one district. And three years in, that state-run system is finding improvement seems to accelerate over time.
The Achievement School District manages two dozen schools in Memphis and Nashville. Those that were only taken over last year aren’t doing well. They have the lowest possible scores on the state’s five-point scale measuring student growth. But all the schools in year three of the takeover have the highest possible growth score.
ASD superintendent Chris Barbic, who is resigning this year, says it’s to be expected.
“Really what we saw is the data bearing out what we’ve said all along — turnaround takes time.”
Barbic gave himself five years to get schools in the state’s bottom five percent into the top 25. So far, no school has made it. But Barbic says he expects some — though not all — will.
Currently, the only school under the ASD’s control is Brick Church College Prep. While the school had a breakout first year under state control, the second was a disappointment. The middle school backtracked by double digits in math, science and reading.
Starting this fall, the ASD will also begin taking over Neely’s Bend Middle in Nashville.