Five LEAD Schools Earn Highest Marks for Growth
Nashville’s only two ASD schools demonstrated academic growth faster than their peers across Tennessee
For the second straight year, students across the LEAD network far outgrew their peers academically across Tennessee by earning the highest score – Level 5 – on the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System or TVAAS, the standardized testing system that tracks academic growth among peers.
LEAD Neely’s Bend, LEAD Brick Church, LEAD Cameron, LEAD Southeast Middle and High schools all scored Level 5 on TVAAS for the 2018-2019 school year. LEAD Academy, a Level 5 school for the last three years the state has reported results, earned a Level 3 this past school year.
LEAD Neely’s Bend and LEAD Brick Church are authorized by the state’s Achievement School District (ASD) and are the only two ASD schools in Nashville. Students regularly come to LEAD two-to-three grade levels behind academically. LEAD credits its students’ success to reinvesting in school leadership, retaining high-quality teachers and supporting social-emotional learning to make sure all students are equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in college and in life.
“We see our students, faculty and staff are putting in the hard work every day in our schools to make academic gains and it’s wonderful to see the scores reflect their efforts,” said LEAD Public Schools CEO Dwayne Tucker.“We know there is more work to do with our students to improve our academic outcomes, but we are particularly pleased to see strong growth at Neely’s Bend and Brick Church, Nashville’s only two ASD schools. This progress shows that our turnaround model is working at priority, zoned-enrollment schools to give all students the support they need to catch up.”
Here is a brief overview of scores at our schools:
- LEAD Neely’s Bend scored a Level 5 for the second year in a row.
- LEAD Brick Church scored a Level 5 for the first time since 2014 – up from a Level 4 last year and a Level 2 the year prior.
- LEAD Cameron scored a Level 5 for the fifth consecutive year, up from being in the bottom 5 percent of schools in Tennessee prior to joining the network. Cameron was also named a Reward school by the state in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
- LEAD Southeast middle and high school also scored a Level 5 for the for the 5th consecutive year (Middle) and second consecutive year (High).
- LEAD Academy High School, a Level 5 school for the last three years the state has reported results, earned a Level 3 this past school year. School leaders have reviewed test score data and will focus on providing additional support in math instruction, as well as in English. LEAD Academy’s graduation rate rose to 96 percent last year, up from 93 percent.
“We are confident we will address the academic needs of LEAD Academy this school year and return to Level 5 status,” said LaVoe Mulgrew, Head of Schools for LEAD’s schools authorized by Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS).
“We are so proud of both of our ASD schools for their dedication to growth,” said Jay Brown, Head of Schools for LEAD’s ASD campuses. “We believe all Nashville students— regardless of background and zip code— deserve the opportunity to succeed in life and that’s why we make teaching and learning our number one priority. ”
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