John Coffelt, Editor

The Tennessee Department of Education 2022-23 School Letter Grades  scores have been recently announced for the public schools in the state

These numbers provide a snapshot of how each school is doing in meeting the state’s expectations for learning, including student achievement and academic growth measures for all schools, as well as a measure of college and career readiness just for high schools.

Manchester City Schools Director of Schools Dr. Joey Vaughn said he was proud of the district’s scores.

“For College Street (Elementary schools) to have A’s and B’s and Westwood Middle School is moving in the right direction,” Vaughn said. “Overall, we are very pleased with where we are.”

Vaughn noted too that there are more to the education that a school provides than what is revealed in a scoring rubric.

“ A lot of things determine the success of a school and that’s not necessarily reflected by grades that only reflect academics,” he said.

“We are proud of the work that our teachers and staff have done to earn the scores that they have. We look forward to continuing to serve Manchester the best way we possibly can,” Vaughn said.

The calculation to generate A-F letter grades for schools, presented on November 2 to the State Board of Education, includes four separate indicators—student achievement, student academic growth, growth of the highest need students and college and career readiness measure just for high schools—and will differentiate between elementary and middle schools, and high schools. Schools will receive an indicator score for each of the indicators, ranging from levels 1-5. Each indicator score will be multiplied by a weight based off the grade band to create a total score, which will then be used to determine the school’s letter grade.

Manchester City Schools scores were

College Street Elementary: A (5/5 

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      5             50%       2.5

Growth                5             40%       2

Highest needs     5             10%       .5

Westwood Elementary: B (4/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                4             40%       1.6

Highest needs     4             10%       .4

Westwood Middle School: C  (2.6/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                1             40%       .4

Highest needs     2             10%       .2

Coffee County Director of Schools Dr. Charles Lawson said that he does not “believe that the complexities of educating children and the myriad services that are provided by a school can be boiled down to a single letter grade.”

He added,  “I am proud of what Coffee County Schools provides for the community regardless of the letter grades assigned by the government in Nashville.  With that said, the overall performance of Coffee County Schools reflects positively on the staff who works with our students every day.”

Coffee County Schools scores:

Coffee County Middle: D (2.1/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      3             50%       1.5

Growth                1             40%       .4           

highest needs     2             10%       .2

Raider Academy: A (4.5/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                5             40%       2

Highest needs     5             10%       .5

Coffee County Central High: B (3.6/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                3             30%       .9           

Highest needs     4             10%       .4

College Readiness            3             10%       .3

North Coffee Elementary : B (3.5/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                3             40%       1.2

Highest needs     3             10%       .3

East Coffee Elementary: B (3.5/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                3             40%       1.2

Highest needs     3             10%       .3

New Union Elementary: A (4.5/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                5             40%       2

Highest need      5             10%       .5

Hillsboro Elementary: B (4.4/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                5             40%       2

Highest needs     4             10%       .4

Hickerson Elementary: B (3.9/5)

                              level       weight   score

Achievement      4             50%       2

Growth                4             40%       1.6

Highest needs     3             10%       .3

 TDOE said that in this first year of letter grades, it is important to remember that many factors determine an increase or decrease in a school letter grade and the specifics are important. A school may be struggling in one area and excelling in another. District leaders and principals have a clear understanding of a school’s strengths and weaknesses and are hard at work creating a plan for improvement.

School letter grades will provide Tennessee families with a clear rating system that gives them a snapshot of how their child’s school is performing,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education.

“No matter what your school’s letter grade is, everyone can play a role in supporting the success of our students and the success of our schools by engaging with your local school communities and joining the conversation.”

For those schools who receive a D or F, this is a call to action – not just for those working in or attending the school, but also for parents and the broader community – that more needs to be done to support the students in this school. Additional resources are available this year to support all TN schools, but especially those serving students in our low income communities and those hardest hit by the pandemic.

The first letter grade release coincides with the first year of a new funding formula for Tennessee schools based on the needs of individual students.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.