While we frequently decry the crisis that exists in Memphis City Schools and the more than 100 schools that are not meeting state benchmarks, we want to take this opportunity to salute the schools - 2 high schools, 7 middle schools and 23 elementary schools - that have met state benchmarks and shown improvement over the last two years.
Hopefully, someone at Memphis City Schools is trying to learn what they are doing right, and how we can apply these lessons to the rest of the district.
Here’s the honor roll:
High Schools:
Central
Ridgeway
Middle Schools:
Bellevue
Craigmont
Hamilton
Havenview
KIPP Diamond Academy
Lanier
Memphis Business Academy
Elementary Schools:
A.B. Hill
Berclair
Charjean
Crump
Cummings
Double Tree
Florida-Kansas
Fox Meadows
Gardenview
Holmes Road
Jackson
Kingsbury
Knight Road
LaRose
Oakshire
Richland
Ridgeway/Balmoral
Ross
Shelby Oaks
Vollintine
Westhaven
White Station
Whitehaven
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10 comments:
It's wonderful to see those schools getting better and meeting the expections. They should continue the teammork to keep on with the successful grades and test scores! Congrats schools!
You missed Snowden elementary. I think they have made the list many times. Plus, their principal has been named the principal of the year the last couple of times.
perhaps you can answer a question I've had since I received a Partners in Public Education report in the mail.
Many (most?) of the elementary schools in MCS were listed as being in good standing. Has this historically been the case, or is this new?
gatesofmemphis--
Maybe I can chime in and speak with some generalities.
As a former public school teacher--though not in Memphis--it was pretty much a rule of thumb that public elementaries did at least a fair job up to and through 4th grade. After 4th, the SASE indicators seemed to be much more predictive of student success. Before that, not so much.
Aaron: Snowden was not on the list because it has met benchmarks but has not shown increases in the number of students who are at least proficient over that time period.
My daughter goes to Richland Elementary, and I'll tell you the main thing they're doing right: parent involvement. Parents overrun the school... there is a line to sign in each morning as a classroom parent reader, there are strong DOGS and PTO programs, and most classes seem to have a large number of parents who are plugged in to the class and school.
The difference is extraordinary. While the parents do help raise money for school improvements, the real impact is just being there... reporting unlocked doors, helping students outside the building, talking to each other about what's going on in the school and -- most important -- demonstrating to the kids with their presence that school is very important.
Stinson,
You are right, parent involvement helps enormously. One thing we observe regarding parent involvement is that it drops off as the kids get older. This may be part of the answer to gatesofmemphis regarding why elementary schools are doing better.
George
Elementary schools do a better job on standardized testing. This is not just a local trend; it is a national one. There are a lot of factors that play into it. Consider just a few: elementary students generally do not transition until 6th grade, self contained classrooms make it easier to assess and implement interventions, they are able to form valuable relationships with adults over time and a number of other factors. And, elementary school teachers are taught to acknowledge developmental levels.
Most middle school teachers are teachers who wanted to teach high school or left the elementary level. Once you leave early childhood, your course of study is more content-based with a minimal focus on developmental needs that are all too important once puberty sets in...
I was so excited to see these schools doing so well. Then it hit me that it means that 80% of the schools aren't.
Bingo!
There is a list that comes out and i forget the website, oh, it's the MCS website, has a link to the page of the schools and their standing. A LOT of them are out.
They did not require degrees of their teachers until two years ago so, what do you expect?
Here's a trick:
Take a good school in a stable neighborhood, then switch the borders so the best kids are now zoned for the worst school, watch the property values plummet, families move out, thugs move in, school goes down, you just made a NEW GHETTO!
Don't think the board is doing this by accident.
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