Hamilton Co. Warns New State Scale Could Lower School Report Cards

Is your child's school making the grade?

The Hamilton County School District will release its schools' report card from the state Tuesday.

School leaders warn Tennessee's new scale for calculating student achievement may result in some shocking grades.

Every year Hamilton County elementary and middle schools get a letter grade from the state...showing achievement and growth in reading, math, science and social studies.

High schools get marks in academic achievement based on test scores.

Danielle Clark, Hamilton Co. Schools, "It's probably the most comprehensive one shot snap shot look at how your schools are doing."

This year school leaders warn of a change in how the state figures out those grades...one that could lower the marks your child's school gets.

Tennessee used to compare students to 1998 to measure achievement.

Now the state will use the last three years of data for a new baseline called the 2009 standard.

Kirk Kelly,Hamilton Co. Schools, "You will see some scores being revised a little bit lower than what they have been in the past. This one takes out a little bit of the inflation that the old scale created because students are getting better so it's more recent."

This comes as Tennessee starts a more rigorous curriculum to better prepare students for work or college.

With the new standards comes a new test to measure student achievement.

Scores released Tuesday will be from the old test graded on the new scale.

Clark, "Parents need to be aware that just because my school used to have straight As and now maybe has As and Bs or maybe has a C, that doesn't mean that your child didn't learn. That doesn't mean that your child didn't make academic progress. It just means that the way the grades were configured is different."

School leaders expect the dip to be temporary.

Kelly, "We've had a history of basically once the new standards have been set we have had a history of steadily improving."

The state report card will be released 12:30 Tuesday.

You can find it on the Hamilton County Department of Education Website once it's released.

We'll also have the scores for you on WDEF News 12 at six.