Parker Issues Review Of State Report Card On Cannon Schools

Cannon County Director of Schools Barbara Parker has issued the following release concerning the state report card released Tuesday:

The State 2009 Report Card for the Cannon County School System has been released. Overall, the system is classified in “good standing.” The system met AYP in Reading/Language Arts/Writing (K-12) and Math (9-12). The system did not make AYP in Math (K-8). All schools in the system are ranked in “good standing”, except for Woodbury Grammar which is ranked “target.”

With the 2009 data, new, restructured calculations for value added and achievement scores are reflected. On the revised grade scale, what was once considered an “A” score could possibly be a “B” or “C”. 2009 scores become the new baseline, and future years’ growth will be compared to the 2009 data. The reasons for the recalculations are new state standards and assessments and the Tennessee Diploma Project, which are intended to better prepare students for college and/or the work force.

Cannon County received all “C’s” in the four major academic achievement subjects (math, reading/language arts, social studies and science) for grades 3-8. The system received a value added academic growth score of “B” in math, and “C” for reading/language arts, social studies and science in grades 3-8, which means that the district showed mean gains in all four areas. In grades 9-12, the value added status for math, science, and English were below the predicted scores, and US History was “not detectably different”

Cannon County has a strong tradition in writing, and the achievement score of “A” for TCAP writing in 5th, 8th, and 11th grades reflects this tradition.

2009 was the first year for all 11th graders to take the ACT. The 2009 ACT score was 19.7 which is below the state’s score of 20.6 and below the district’s 2008 ACT score of 20.3 when all 11th graders were not required to take the ACT. The three-year average is still above 20.

Other areas reported include attendance, promotion, dropout, and graduation. In the area of attendance, Cannon County exceeded the State goal of 93% by maintaining a 95.5% attendance rate in K-8 and a 94.8% in 9-12. The promotion rate of 98.7% also exceeded the State goal of 97%.

The dropout rate for Cannon County was 17.7% which did not meet the State goal of 10%. Likewise, Cannon County’s graduation rate did not meet the State goal of 90%. For the 2009 year, Cannon County saw a drop in graduation rate to 72.7% from the previous year’s 83.5%.

In reviewing the system’s report card, one will note several areas of strength and a few areas of weaknesses. All staff members should be commended for their efforts to make our schools better each year. Measures have already been implemented to improve our deficiencies.

Math interventions such as math tutoring, two-hour math blocks for K-3, and Study Island are in place at Woodbury Grammar.

At Cannon County High School, areas of intervention consist of Credit Recovery 5 days a week, double dose math, Lion Academy for those with discipline issues who would normally be suspended out of school for extended periods, a mentoring program called METS for those who have aspirations of going to college; place-based learning has given students a new reason to attend school with projects such as the Greenway, United Way does job skill training for the at-risk students, and several teachers have implemented a no-zero policy called “The Power Of I” where students are not “allowed” to fail to turn in assignments.

To access Report Card data, please visit tn.gov/education/reportcard/index.shtml.