Kingsport City Schools Receives Top Grades in Achievement on TN State Report Card
KINGSPORT – Kingsport City Schools has received high marks in academic achievement, scoring above the state average in all core subject areas on the Tennessee Department of Education 2010 Report Card.
The school system received As in student achievement for math, social studies and science. The system received a B in achievement for reading/language arts, falling one point short of the A range.
We are pleased with the results of the state report card, said Dr. Richard Kitzmiller, Superintendent of Schools. Our teachers and students have met the challenges of the more rigorous curriculum and testing. We continue to work toward improving our academic achievement so that all students are college- and career- ready upon graduation.
According to the report card results, the school system improved its student graduation rate from 93.1% in 2009 to 94.8% in 2010. The state graduation rate average is 86.1%. In addition, the 2010 average ACT score for Kingsport City School students remained steady at 22.2, with the state average at 19.6.
All Kingsport City Schools, with the exception of John Sevier Middle School, met federal No Child Left Behind Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2010. John Sevier Middle school was targeted for improvement in the subgroup of students with disabilities, meaning that the students in this subgroup performed below the AYP benchmark. Tennessee uses the Target status as an early warning signal so that schools can take corrective action to avoid becoming a High Priority School. Kingsport is addressing special education needs system-wide by providing focused professional development in working with students with disabilities for all teachers, utilizing funding provided by the federal Race to the Top initiative.
We have established a plan at Sevier to address this area which includes new 90-minute blocks for reading and mathematics and formative assessments to identify specific skills needing improvement. We are infusing more content-specific instruction in special education classes and increasing collaboration between special education and content area teachers, added John Sevier Middle School Principal Cookie Greer.
System-wide value-added scores which measure academic growth from year-to-year are also an area of concern, according to KCS Director of Accountability Dory Creech. Statewide, school systems were prepared for lower value-added scores due to TVAAS recalibration and the significant changes to curriculum and testing. 2009-10 was a year of transition for all school systems in Tennessee, said Creech. The expectations have been raised and our new state assessments are much more rigorous. I am very pleased with how are teachers and staff have taken on this challenge and worked to raise student achievement.
The full TN State Report Card, including specific information on the Kingsport City Schools and individual schools, can be found on the Kingsport City Schools website at www.k12k.com. For more information on the state report card results, please contact Dory Creech at (423) 378-2125.
