Frequently Asked Questions
A target school is a school that missed a federal benchmark in at least one area for the first time. There are no sanctions for target schools. The Tennessee Department of Education offers technical assistance to help keep target schools from becoming high priority schools.
What is a high priority school?
A high priority school is a school that has missed the same benchmark for more than one year. There are five different levels of high priority schools: School Improvement 1, School Improvement 2, Corrective Action, Restructuring 1, and Restructuring 2.
What is adequate yearly progress (AYP)?
AYP is a measure of year-over-year student achievement. The goal of No Child Left Behind is for 100% of students to be proficient in reading, language arts and math by 2014. Standards for AYP are set to ensure that schools reach thatgoal.
How is student achievement assessed?
In Tennessee, students in grades 3-8 take achievement tests in math, reading and language arts. In grades 5, 8, and 11, they also take a writing assessment test. High school students take Gateway exams. This year for the first time, all student tests for grades 3-8 count toward determining proficiency in K-8 schools for this school year. Performance on these assessments is measured against standards set by the federal government to determine a school’s status.
My child’s school is excellent. Why is it on the list of target schools?
No Child Left Behind has very stringent requirements. A school must meet standards in every category and every subgroup – including demonstrating 95% participation on assessments – or else it does not meet the federal benchmark and is identified as a target school or high priority school. If, for example, the test was given on a day when many students were absent, it is possible that fewer than 95% of students took the test, causing the school to miss the benchmark.
What does my child’s school have to do to come off the list?
If a school meets federal benchmarks for two consecutive years in the areas in which it was deficient, it will be considered to be in good standing.
What is the State Department of Education doing to improve my child's school?
Each year that a school does not meet required benchmarks, additional resources are dedicated to helping improve performance. For a list of state initiatives, visit www.tennessee.gov/education.
What is an Exemplary Educator?
Exemplary Educators (EE’s) are the backbone of Tennessee’s efforts to improve teaching and learning. EE’s are veteran teachers, principals, or superintendents selected and trained by the department and assigned to work with high priority schools to improve student achievement.
How can I learn about school choice and supplemental services?
School districts with Title I schools identified as high priority are required to offer school choice and supplemental services. Contact your school district office for more information. Phone numbers for district offices are available on the State Department of Education Web site at www.tennessee.gov/education. You can also find information about supplemental services on the Web site at http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/sde/ or http://www.tennessee.gov/education/acctsupplemental.htm . Information regarding school choice is available at http://www.tennessee.gov/education/fppublicschchoice.htm .
What can I do, as a parent, to help my school improve?
All schools must develop school improvement plans, and schools identified as high priority must revise those plans, with input from parents. You can contact your school to become a member of the school improvement planning team. Of course, the best thing that you can do is support your own children in their educational efforts.
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No Child Left Behind
Tennessee Education Initiatives
• Governor Phil Bredesen has added more than $750 million new dollars to be distributed to Pre-K through 12 classrooms in Tennessee, approved by the legislature
• The Tennessee Formative Assessment Pilot Program uses online assessments throughout the year to gauge student progress and allow teachers to adjust instruction accordingly. This number of schools participating in the pilot increased from 37 in 2005 to 112 in 2006.
• The department launched Assessment Literacy training in January 2005 to help teachers and administrators better understand how to use achievement test data to improve approaches to instruction.
• New recruitment initiatives have helped identify quality teachers to fill high-needs areas. Teach Tennessee is an alternative path to licensure for mid-career professionals who want to teach math, science or a foreign language. BASE-TN is a statewide marketing push to recruit special education teachers.
• READ Tennessee is a new literacy initiative of the department that emphasizes preparing teachers of all grade levels to teach reading skills. As part of this initiative, adolescent literacy was a primary focus of the 2006 High Schools Summit and K-5 teachers could attend summer seminars on incorporating reading into all subject areas.
• Tennessee was the first state chosen to implement a growth model pilot for the purpose of recognizing progress under No Child Left Behind. Tennessee is also one of a minority number of states to have full approval of its annual assessments indicating they correlate with the academic skills students are required to master.
• Tennessee was one of five states recognized this year by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings for making the greatest gains in closing the achievement gap for students with disabilities. The department has been focused since 2004 on efforts to emphasize inclusion and early intervention; qualified special education teachers; and research-based teaching strategies.
• Tennessee hosts five-day Teacher Quality Academies specific to different subject areas to help teachers gain the content knowledge and strategies to become Highly Qualified. Additionally, a new Math/Science Partnership Program pairs school systems with colleges/universities to provide professional development to meet highly qualified status in these subjects.
• Tennessee contracted with national expert Dr. Stephen Constantino to conduct a three-year training program for school systems to enhance parent involvement in their schools. Research has shown that students whose parents are engaged in and supportive of their education perform better and are less likely to drop out.
• The department established an Urban Education Improvement Office for educators to share resources and ideas on how to address the needs of students in urban areas. More than 1,100 teachers, principals and administrators have attended training, in-service and conference sessions in addition to more than 30 school visits by departmental staff.
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