KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

It’s report card time for schools in Tennessee as the Tennessee Board of Education (TBOE) has released its 2023-24 State Report Card and School Letter Grades.

According to TBOE officials, the State Report Card offers families, education leaders, elected officials and the public a variety of interactive displays that can inform tailored strategies and investments to support students and schools. The school letter grades, which were released on Thursday, Dec. 19, provide a snapshot of how each school in all districts across the state are doing in meeting the state’s expectations for learning. Per the TBOE, there are several factors that help to determine the school letter grades for each school, including student achievement, academic growth, growth of the highest need students and a measure of college and career readiness just for high schools.

“The 2023-24 State Report Card provides valuable insights into the performance of public schools and districts across Tennessee, giving families and communities the tools they need to advocate for their students,” Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds said. “We are especially proud of the schools that performed highly on the School Letter Grades and are moving the needle for kids, and we encourage all Tennesseans to actively engage and contribute to the ongoing success of all our schools.”

In 2016, T.C.A. 49-1-228 was established and required the Tennessee Department of Education to develop a school letter grade rating system to provide parents and families with information that shows how public schools are performing. Due to implementation delays including testing administration issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, Tennessee was able to assign letter grades to schools for the first time for the 2022-2023 school year.

The statewide scale rage is as follows: A’s score range is 4.5 – 5.0; B’s score range is 3.5 – 4.4; C’s score range is 2.5 – 3.4; D’s score range is 1.5 – 2.4; and F’s score range is 1.0 – 1.4.

For Tullahoma City Schools, Tullahoma High School received a D and a score of 2.4; West Middle School received a D and a score of 2.2; East Middle School received a B and a score of 4; Jack T. Farrar Elementary School received a B and a score of 3.9; Robert E. Lee Elementary School received a B and a score of 4.1; Bel-Aire Elementary School received a C and a score of 2.9; and East Lincoln Elementary School received a D and a score of 2.2. The Tullahoma Virtual Academy, which received a letter grade in the previous school year, did not receive a letter grade for the 2023-24 school year as it was considered not eligible.

When comparing the scores and letter grades from the 22-23 school year, the schools in the district saw an overall improvement in scores, apart from Tullahoma High School and West Middle School. For the high school, it saw its score dropped from 2.9 to 2.4, resulting in the change of its letter grade to a D, while West Middle School saw the biggest drop in scores, going from a score of 3.8 to a score of 2.2, resulting in its letter grade dropping form a B to a D.

In contrast, Robert E. Lee Elementary saw the biggest increase in scores from 3.1 to 4.1, changing its letter grade from a C to a B. The other schools’ improvements in scores were as follows:

• East Middle School improved its score from 3.8 to 4.0 with no change in letter grade.
• Jack T. Farr Elementary School improved from 3.4 to 3.9, changing its letter grade from a C to a B;
• Bel-Aire Elementary School improved its score from 2.6 to 2.9 with no change in letter grade.
• East Lincoln Elementary School improved its score from 1.6 to 2.2 with no change in letter grade.

The school system issued the following the statement to The News when asked for comment about the released letter grades:

“School letter grades are solely centered around standardized assessment data. Our kindergarten through eighth-grade letter grades are based on TCAP and TVAAS results from the 2024 spring assessments. Letter grades at the high school level are based on the 2024 EOC results, and a small percentage is connected to CCR data, which includes ACT, AP, dual enrollment, and dual credit scores. Performance level percentages, success rates, and participation rates are used to compute an achievement indicator, and that indicator, along with growth, creates the final letter grade. As letter grades were announced today, there are areas to celebrate and others to improve. TCS is lucky to have incredible staff members who dedicate themselves to students and ensure a well-rounded education is experienced throughout their K-12 journey. Our teachers and staff will continue to focus their efforts on meeting student needs and challenging them today for a limitless tomorrow.”

As for neighboring school districts in the county, Coffee County Schools also saw changes in its schools’ letter grades. For the 22-23 school year, Coffee County Central High School scored a 3.6 and a letter grade of B; Coffee County Middle School scored a 2.1 and a letter grade of a D; Coffee County Raider Academy scored a 4 and received a B; Deerfield Elementary School scored a 2.9 and a letter grade of a C; East Coffee Elementary School scored a 3 and a letter grade a C; Hickerson Elementary School scored a 2 and a letter grade of a D; Hillsboro Elementary School scored a 4.5 and a letter grade of a A; New Union Elementary School scored a 2.9 and a letter grade of a C; and North Coffee Elementary School scored a 3.5 and a letter grade of B.

As for Manchester City Schools, College Street Elementary School scored a 4.9 and a letter grade of A; Westwood Elementary School scored a 3.5 and a letter grade of B; and Westwood Middle School scored a 3.1 and received a C.

Annually, the State Report Card is updated to provide information about school and district performance, including overall achievement and progress on state assessments, enrollment, English learners’ proficiency in English, graduation rate, and students’ postsecondary readiness. Last year, the Report Card included the School Letter Grades system as well funding allocation information, including for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA), the state funding formula, which provides dollars to support specific student needs. The funding expenditure information will be available in early 2025.

Details about the school’s grades and how they came to be calculated can be found out at tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/ and searching for the schools. Additional information and resources about letter grades are available at www.tn.gov/education/schoollettergrades.