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Citizens Panel issues 'C' and 'B' grades to Metro Nashville Public Schools
For Immediate Release
February 3, 2005

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Citizens Panel for a Community Report Card on Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) released today its scores for the 2003-2004 school year. Now in its 12th year, the 12-member panel, convened annually by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and committed to evaluating the public school system, issued a grade of “C” in student achievement and a “B” in implementation of strategic planning. The grades mirror those given by last year’s panel.

“The members of this panel put forth a tremendous effort to again provide meaningful feedback on the progress our school district is making towards addressing concerns and meeting the expectations of the community,” said Avi Poster, a three-year member of the Chamber’s Citizens Panel and this year’s co-chair. “We are encouraged by the commitment of our school board and administration to deliver system-wide improvement, and we look forward to working with them to address the challenges and recommendations outlined in this year’s progress report.”

In addition to issuing grades for system-wide performance, the 2004 Citizens Panel examined and reported on several focused areas of study deemed of high interest to parents and the community. Detailed studies on the following are found in the newly released report: Closing the achievement gap, policy governance, social and emotional learning, middle school education and English Language Learning.

Student Achievement
Grade: C
For the past three years, the Citizens Panel has issued a grade of “C” in this category, reflecting the degree to which student achievement is meeting the community’s expectations. While the group acknowledged Metro achievement scores had improved in several targeted areas over the previous year, it found that achievement results viewed by demographic subgroups indicate MNPS has been slow to close the achievement gap and meet the needs of African-American, economically disadvantaged and Special Education students. (See more detail in the executive summary of the full report).

Implementation of Strategic Planning
Grade: B
The Citizens Panel again issued a “B” for implementation of strategic planning. The Panel praised MNPS for its strides to develop a strong culture for learning and supporting infrastructure. However, the panel expressed a desire to see more corresponding positive results over the next few years. (See more detail in executive summary of the full report).

Key commendations by the 2004 Citizens Panel:

The District now offers honors classes in many middle schools and has expanded the International Baccalaureate program from Hunters Lane High School to include Hillwood and Hillsboro High schools. These acts confirm the District’s commitment to establishing high expectations for all students.

Continued emphasis on staff development is laudable. A needed new District Staff Development Center is being developed, as recommended by the Panel last year, and significant efforts continue to be made to advance the instructional capacity of all teachers.

Many physical improvements have been made in school buildings throughout our district. Commendably, care is being given to the design of new schools to take into consideration the instructional needs of our children, not only the District’s need for more space.

The Panel applauds the District for its work with Alignment Nashville. This project has the potential to provide MNPS with a coordinated, community-wide effort in addressing some of the District’s key achievement gap issues.

Key challenges and recommendations:

The Citizens Panel remains deeply concerned by the disproportionately high number of African-American males placed in special education Moderate Intervention Program (MIP) Conduct classes. African-Americans make up 77 percent of MIP enrollment, and the majority of these students have the cognitive ability to be successful in a general education classroom. Unfortunately, the District does not have a formal plan for returning these children to the mainstream environment once their behavioral issues have been addressed. The Panel strongly encourages the District to develop specific criteria for placement in MIP classrooms and concrete plans for helping students exit from them.

All data collected relative to student achievement should be disaggregated by subgroups so that staff, parents and the community can more easily understand the degree to which progress is being made by each, and how well the District is doing at closing achievement gaps.

The Citizens Panel is concerned that English Language Learning services, as currently constituted, may have too narrow a focus. In addition to language skills, immigrant students need to acquire a host of social skills and cultural knowledge in order to be fully included in the school community and to excel academically. Even after graduating from the ELL Program, immigrant children continue to struggle with language-related issues, particularly with the vocabulary often used in our classrooms and found in our curricular materials. Based on comments from parents, students and teachers, it appears that the District is not addressing, in a systemic way, these additional needs of ELL students.

Convened each year by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Citizens Panel for a Community Report Card is comprised of a diverse group of concerned citizens who serve as the voice of the community in evaluating Metro Nashville Public Schools. Panel members include parents and non-parents, social activists and members of the business community.