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Memphis college students are exceeding state expectations for enchancment in studying and math, however falling behind in social research progress, check rating knowledge launched Thursday reveals.
Memphis-Shelby County Faculties earned the very best districtwide progress rating, a 5, on the 2024-2025 Tennessee Worth-Added Evaluation System, or TVAAS, for the fourth yr in a row. College students additionally earned that prime rating in most particular content material areas, together with studying, numeracy, and science.
However MSCS’ social research rating dropped from a 5 to a 2 in a single yr, which means college students are displaying much less progress than anticipated.
Interim Superintendent Roderick Richmond mentioned district leaders have to “face with honesty the areas the place we didn’t meet our expectations” whereas celebrating the general wins.
“Greatness grows not by ignoring challenges, however by confronting them with imaginative and prescient and dedication,” he mentioned in an emailed press launch.
District officers plan to “audit and align” MSCS’ social research curriculum, including project-based studying alternatives and creating “month-to-month trainer cohorts” for data-tracking. The topic will even be added to MSCS’ new districtwide evaluation system.
TVAAS differs from state proficiency knowledge. The system measures pupil achievement all through the varsity yr as a substitute of on a single end-of-year check, and compares that progress with the efficiency of statewide friends with related educational backgrounds. Scores vary from 1 to five.
This implies MSCS college students are outpacing statewide progress expectations, whilst they wrestle to earn widespread proficiency scores on the Tennessee Complete Evaluation Program, or TCAP. Within the 2024-25 college yr, lower than 25% of MSCS college students met proficiency benchmarks in studying, and simply over 1 in 5 did the identical in math.
MSCS excessive schoolers improved their TVAAS social research rating from final yr, going from a 1 to a 3, which signifies their progress is on monitor with state expectations. College students in grades 4-8 mirrored the districtwide drop from 5 to 2.
Within the press launch, district officers wrote that social research instruction for early grades is “usually minimized in comparison with ELA and Math, significantly for college kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds.”
However social research “prepares college students for school, careers, and civic life,” the district mentioned. “Greater than half of educational vocabulary is tied to Social Research content material, making it an untapped driver of studying progress.”
Within the spring, highschool and center college lecturers participated in districtwide coaching round social research instruction, which the district plans to supply to elementary educators this yr.
Eight MSCS faculties improved TVAAS scores from the bottom to the very best in a single yr, together with:
- Bolton Excessive
- Douglass Excessive
- Memphis Delta Preparatory
- Riverwood Elementary
- Rozelle Elementary
- Sheffield Elementary
- Springdale Elementary
- Winridge Elementary
Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Faculties for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Attain Bri at bhatch@chalkbeat.org.
