2022 TNready data shows that public charter schools in nashville are leading student growth and achievement - ESPECIALLY for historically disadvantaged student groups.
An eye-opening analysis of TNReady data by the Nashville Charter Collaborative, released in September 2022, shows that every historically disadvantaged student group enrolled in Nashville’s public charter schools — including students of color, economically disadvantaged students, English Learners and students with disabilities — has made progress since 2021 in both math and reading.
Within the growth in student achievement across Metro Nashville Public Schools, charter schools had double-digit one-year gains in proficiency: 11 percentage points in both math and English-Language Arts.
Public charter schools are free, public schools, which in Tennessee, are run by nonprofit partners. Compared to the state and the district as a whole, local charter schools serve a higher proportion of students from historically disadvantaged subgroups. In Nashville, these students typically perform lower than their similar peers statewide. But in the district’s public charter schools, the opposite is true. These subgroups of students are performing higher than the state average in English language arts and math.
Additional highlights from the analysis of school-level TNReady data:
Academic Proficiency
More Nashville charter school students are reading on grade level today than before the pandemic
While only 21% of high school students of color are considered “Ready Graduates” across the state, every single charter high school in Nashville exceeds that average, and most far exceed it
STEM Prep and LEAD Academy have double the state average
KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School eliminated the achievement gap and their students of color are now scoring higher than their white peers across the state
Academic Growth
More than three quarters of charter schools posted the highest level of student test score growth on TVAAS
Of schools that enroll a majority of students of color, the top 10 schools for ELA growth are all charter schools, and nine of the top 10 schools for math growth are charter schools
Public charter schools are also playing a prominent role in Nashville’s recognition for improved academic performance.
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) recently announced that Metro Nashville Public Schools has increased the number of Reward schools this year to 48 achieving the top accountability status during the 2021-2022 school year - including 14 public charter schools.
TDOE recognizes schools as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement in performance by meeting their annual measurable objectives across performance indicators and student groups.
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