NASHVILLE, TN (TN Tribune) — The Tennessee Department of Education announced state school and district designations for the 2022-23 school year, including Reward schools, Exemplary districts, and In Need of Improvement districts. These designations are based on various performance indicators, including student achievement and growth.
Across the state, 400 schools, spanning 98 districts, received the Reward school designation; 12 districts received the Exemplary district designation; and seven districts received the In Need of Improvement designation. The complete list of district and school designations is available on the department‘s accountability webpage.
“I am excited to highlight the Reward Schools and Exemplary Districts across the state for their commitment to ensuring students are growing and learning every day,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “These annual designations are a testament to the hard work our educators and school and district leaders provide to students each and every day across the state.”
Each year, schools and districts are eligible for designations based on their overall performance across indicators that are essential to student success, including how they prepared students to be proficient (achievement), accelerated student learning (growth), encouraged students to attend school regularly (chronically out of school), prepared students for postsecondary success (graduation rate and Ready Graduate), and supported English learners acquiring language skills.
Schools are recognized as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement in performance by meeting objectives across performance indicators and student groups, and the Reward school distinction places significant emphasis on performance and improvement across all indicators from the prior school year.
Districts are recognized as an Exemplary District when they receive an overall district performance score of 3.1 or higher on a 4.0-point scale across all performance indicators as referenced above. The following are the 12 designated Exemplary districts:
- Bells City Schools
- Bledsoe County Schools
- Bradford Special School District
- Dyer County Schools
- Dyersburg City Schools
- Franklin Special School District
- Gibson County Special School District
- Johnson City Schools
- Rogersville City School
- Sweetwater City Schools
- Tennessee School for the Deaf
- Trousdale County Schools
Reward schools, Exemplary districts, and In Need of Improvement districts were presented to the State Board of Education on February 16th and approved. All designations can be found on the department’s accountability page.
