by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
Franklin, Grundy, Marion and Coffee counties all spend about the same amount of money on public education, but there are differences in the outcomes. On the state’s annual “report card” for schools, the Tennessee Department of Education gave Franklin County schools a grade of “A” in social studies and “Bs” in math, reading/language arts and science. The rating is based on a three-year average of TCAP scores for grades 3–8. The state’s scale for an “A” is between 55 and 99 percent and for a “B” it is from 50 to 54 percent.
Grundy County earned the lowest grades in the area, with “Cs” in three subjects and a “B” in math. Marion and Coffee posted marks similar to Franklin County.
Adam Tucker, a member of the Franklin County Board of Education, said he is concerned that Franklin County is below Tennessee averages in state-mandated test scores and student growth/improvement.
“While some of this may be due to the district’s implementation of certain curricular requirements earlier than other districts across the state, this fact is still disconcerting,” Tucker said.
Rebecca Sharber, director of Franklin County schools, gave a presentation on the state’s report card at the school board meeting on Nov. 10. She said in an interview on Nov. 11 that she was pleased that “we are holding our own” in academic achievement, but is also concerned with academic growth. “We’re not as good as we want to be, but people are working hard,” she said.
The report card also measures improvement on TCAP scores from previous years. In this area for grades 4–8, the state awarded Franklin County “Ds” in science, reading/language arts and social studies. The state gave a “B” in math, which was the only subject that reflected a slight increase in the report.
The other three counties posted better grades for improvement, with Coffee County earning the top score with a “C” in reading, a “B” in science and “As” in social studies and math.
The state did not award letter grades at the high school level, but a comparison of graduation rates shows Franklin County at 89.1 percent for 2014. Both Coffee and Grundy counties had slightly higher graduation rates than Franklin County. Marion County had the lowest rate of the four, at 84 percent.
In a comparison of the average composite ACT scores for the last three years, Franklin County scored an 18.6, with Marion and Coffee slightly higher. Grundy County’s average ACT score was 17.6.
“Ultimately, the report card presentation addressed how students are performing on the various state-mandated assessments,” Tucker said. “It did not address the more important questions of why these scores are what they are and what interventions are needed to improve student performance on these tests and, more importantly, overall student learning.”
Tucker asked Sharber to make a presentation at the Dec. 8 school board meeting to look at what district administrators and teachers are doing with the report card data to improve learning and achievement.
Last school year Franklin County schools spent an average of $9,030 per pupil, with 31.3 percent of that amount from local funding, 57.4 percent from the state, and 11.3 percent was federal money. In 2012–13, Franklin County spent $8,891 per student. The state average for 2013–14 was $9,346, according to the report card.
Grundy County averaged $9,280 per pupil, Coffee County spent $9,160 per student, and Marion County spent $8,687 per pupil. The state’s school report card is available at <www.tn.gov/education/data/report_card/>.
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