Wilson County Schools show strong gains

A new report from the Tennessee Department of Education shows strong gains within Wilson County Schools.

The Tennessee Department of Education released its 2012 Report Card on Thursday, offering grade level and subject breakdowns of each of the state’s 136 school districts’ academic achievement levels.

“I believe this is the best report card that Wilson County has ever received,” said Mike Davis, director of Wilson County Schools.

Wilson County Schools showed significant gains in the 2011-2012 school year, scoring all “A”s in TCAP-based measures.

In the “Value Added” category, which measures student progress within a grade and subject, the district’s grades for students in grades K-8 improved in all four categories – math, reading/language, social studies and science.

The most significant district-wide gains were seen in science; the district raised its 2011 grade of “D” to “B” in 2011.

“Our teachers deserve the credit for this year’s report card,” said Davis. “They have stepped up and done a marvelous job with the children in their care.”

The district has also seen a significant improvement in its graduation rate within the last three years. In 2009, 89.6 percent of Wilson County Schools’ seniors graduated; in 2005, 95.5 percent graduated.

Lebanon Special School District’s report showed more room for improvement.

The district earned two “A”s and two “B”s in student academic achievement, showing slight improvements from 2011 in reading/language and science, although the district’s letter grades did not change from 2011.

“We continue to work to make gains in achievement even as the goals are set higher and higher each year,” said Scott Benson, director of schools for Lebanon Special School District. “We have pockets of high performance and other areas where improvement in performance is needed.”

In the “Value Added” category, the district saw a decrease of performance in science – the district’s 2011 score of “C” dropped to “D” in 2012.

“Our Value Added and our growth scores are some areas where we’re looking to make a little more improvement,” said Benson.

The district is working with teachers to help meet that goal.

“As our principals and teachers work to challenge every student, they are meeting in grade level and vertical planning teams,” said Jeanne Barker, associate director of learning for Lebanon Special School District. “Vertical planning teams improve communication of standards and expectations for learning at each level so that every student is both challenged and successful.”

Lebanon Special School District and Wilson County Schools were both among many other districts the showed room for improvement in meeting the needs of subgroups within their student populations.

“We need to meet every student on their level,” said Benson.

The full report card is available at tn.gov/education/reportcard.

Staff writer Sara McManamy-Johnson can be reached at 615-444-3952, ext. 16 or sjohnson@lebanondemocrat.com.