The Tennessee Department of Education released the 2021-2022 State Report Card and Warren County was designated satisfactory.
The State Report Card provides families and other stakeholders information about how Tennessee schools and districts are performing. Director of Schools Dr. Grant Swallows said being satisfactory is acceptable, but they want to improve.
“Our designation of ‘satisfactory’ is acceptable but it is not where we want to be. We want to move forward and I believe we are with the great work of our employees and most of our students,” said Swallows.
The report card includes: academic achievement, growth, chronically out of school, progress on English language proficiency, ready to graduate and graduation rate.
The achievement score is based on the percent of students who met or exceeded grade level expectations on state math and ELA assessments. Grades 3-5 and 6-8 both received an achievement score of 1 out of 4. Grades 9-12 received an achievement score of 1.5.
Warren County also received a Graduation Rate Score of 2 out of 4. The graduation rate score represents a school’s performance on the four-year graduation calculation, which is the percentage of students who earned a regular high school diploma or an alternate academic diploma in four years plus summer.
“I believe the report card reflects what the norm in education right now is. We knew that achievement and growth was going to be lower based off the struggles from the last few years. With that said, in Warren County we know that more students met or exceeded expectations on the TCAP test than a year ago. That’s progress,” said Swallows.
Compared to surrounding counties, Warren County did better in some areas and worse in others. In achievement, Grundy County scored a 1.5 for grades 3-5, a 0.5 for grades 6-8, and a 2.5 for grades 9-12. Coffee County scored a 2.5 for grades 3-5, a 1.5 for grades 6-8, and a 3.5 for grades 9-12 in achievement. Swallows says it is difficult to compare the schools.
“I think we are probably in similar situations as the districts around us. The report card measures so many different things it is tough to really make it a scale for comparison. We are higher in some areas but lower in others,” said Swallows.
The pandemic caused a lot of learning loss and the school district is trying to remedy it. Swallows says the numbers on this report card do not show growth, but the growth numbers were compared to all students throughout the state.
“Many of those students who are classified as showing growth, were in different circumstances than our district a year ago. Literally, our students have learned and grown throughout the pandemic at a better rate than others. Locally, we saw more students achieve more than a year ago. That’s the number I worry about,” said Swallows.
Improvement is the goal for Warren County next year. Swallows says a family and school partnership is crucial for success.
“We are constantly attempting to improve what we provide our students. These last few years, our teachers have participated in rigorous professional development related to helping students read. That has long been a goal of the district and the state and teachers are really digging into the science of reading. One thing that cannot be lost is that student achievement is a result of the school and family partnership. We are working hard to create better communication in order for students to have more opportunities,” said Swallows.
Swallows says this report card only showcases a little of the work being done in the school system.
“Just like our students getting report cards, this is meant to be a snapshot of the work that is being done. The process of informing our community is very important so I’m glad this data is available. With that said, it is just a very small picture of all that goes on in Warren County. I’m very proud of our system and I look forward to watching us grow in the years to come,” said Swallows.
