State Report Card on Education :: A Look at Franklin County Students’ Performance

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Each year the Tennessee Department of Education issues a statewide report card with data on achievement, graduation rate, academic growth and other criteria, which makes it possible to compare state averages, districts and individual schools. How did Tennessee students do in the 2014–15 school year compared to the 2013–14 school year? 

How did Franklin County students do compared to state averages? And how did Sewanee Elementary School students do compared to other schools in the district and state?

Statewide, math, reading and science scores at the elementary school and high school levels showed little change with the exception ofchemistry. Students lacking basic mastery of the material decreased six percentage points to 26.6 percent; advanced level students increased four percentage points to almost 20 percent. Locally, the improvements were even more dramatic, with the students lacking basic mastery in chemistry decreasing by 11 percentage points and those demonstrating advanced knowledge increasing to almost nine percent. While still below statewide averages, the gain is significant.

Looking at high school graduation rates, both Franklin County High School (FCHS) and Huntland High School (HHS) surpassed the state average of 87.2 percent and showed a rise in the number of students graduating compared to the 2013–14 school year. FCHS reported a graduation rate of 89.2 percent, and HHS reported an impressive 100 percent of enrolled seniors earning diplomas.

The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) provides a tool for comparing academic achievement in the 2014–15 school year with academic achievement in the 2013–14 school year. TVAAS scores rank academic growth on a scale of one to five. FCHS received a score of four in both literacy and numeracy, indicating academic growth above expected levels, and Broadview Elementary received an improvement score of five in both categories.

Sewanee Elementary School (SES) received a TVAAS numeracy literacy score of three, indicating student gains matched expected levels, and a numeracy score of two, indicating students test scores didn’t improve as indicators suggested they might.

SES literacy and numeracy scores remain above statewide and Franklin County elementary school averages, with 10 percent or fewer students lacking basic skills in math and reading. Looked at as a group, almost 20 percent of Franklin County elementary school students lack basic skills in math, with 14 percent lacking basic reading skills. 

SES had a higher percentage of students with advanced level skills than any other school in the district. Nearly one-third of SES students demonstrated advanced level subject matter mastery in math, and 23.6 percent demonstrated advanced level reading proficiency.

Per pupil spending in Franklin County decreased by $515 to $8,610 in the 2014–15 school year. This ranks Franklin County $736 below the state average for 2013–14 and $2,000 below the national average. (Full financial information for 2014–15 is not available).

The Tennessee State Report Card also includes data on ACT scores, student enrollment, and ethnicity. To learn more go to <http://tn.gov/education/topic/report-card>.