County schools show report card success
The Tennessee Department of Education has released its State Report Cards for the 2024–2025 school year, showing positive signs for schools in Anderson County.
The annual report cards measure district and school performance across grade levels and subject areas, while highlighting year-over-year improvement.
Tennessee calculates scores based on a school’s achievement — determined by TCAP test results’ growth — determined by Tennessee value-added assessment system test results, and in the case of high school, college and career readiness.
The state weighs each of these areas to determine a school’s contribution towards the overall letter. Additionally, growth is represented in two ways — that achieved by the overall student population, and Growth25, the growth achieved the lowest 25% of performers.
Clinton City Schools
Clinton City Schools got an Advancing district designation. Clinton Elementary School got an A, South Clinton Elementary a B and North Clinton Elementary a B.
“The letter grade criteria is very rigorous,” Director of Clinton City Schools Kelly Johnson said.
“Receiving a letter A or B is a significant accomplishment and is to be celebrated. Clinton City School remains as one of the top-performing districts across the state.”
She called the criteria “misleading,” and said it reflected even more positively on the system than it might appear.
With student growth, a Level 3 indicates that students have made a year’s growth, which is the expectation. Yet a score of 3 equates a C on the grading scale.
“Therefore, to get a B or an A, students must make more than a year’s growth, which all CCS schools did,” she said.
Anderson County Schools
According to the state report, Anderson County Schools continues a positive upward trend that the school system stated in a news release has been building for several years.
“We’re consistently improving,” Tim Parrott, director of schools, said in a news release. “We’ve been on a trajectory now for probably the last four to five years, and I think overall it just shows our commitment and our teachers’ dedication to the success of our students.”
This year’s report shows that 11 schools in the district improved their performance ratings.
Of those schools, three earned an A, seven received a B, two earned a C, and two received a D. Two schools improved by two letter grades in a single year.
On the 2024–2025 State Report Card, Andersonville Elementary School, Clinton High School, and Norris Middle School each earned an “A” rating. Additionally, Briceville Elementary, Claxton Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Grand Oaks Elementary, Norris Elementary, Norwood Elementary, and Norwood Middle schools earned “B” ratings, which the school system stated reflected “strong academic performance and continued growth across the district.”
“Norris Middle School actually went from a C to an A this year, and Briceville Elementary School, which is our smallest school in the district, went from a D to a B,” Parrott stated in the release.
In addition to state-level gains, Anderson County Schools received federal recognition as an “advancing district,” which is the second-best designation a district can achieve.
Three schools within the district were also named Reward Schools: Norris Elementary School, Norris Middle School, and Clinton High School.
“When our students get ready to graduate, they’ve got the knowledge and skills to do whatever they want to,” Parrott said in the release. “They’re not stuck in one track. They’ve got a great foundation through elementary and middle school, and when they go out, they can be successful.”
The Anderson County Board of Education voted on Thursday, Jan. 8, to give schools that receive an A on the state report card $2,000, schools that receive Reward School designation $2,000, schools that maintain a B or above $1,000, schools that move up one letter grade $1,000 and schools that move off the state ATSI list $1,000, with each of these award amounts added to the others if multiple ones apply.
In practice, this means Andersonville Elementary received $4,000, Briceville Elementary $4,000, Claxton Elementary $2,000, Clinton High $6,000, Clinton Middle $1,000, Dutch Valley Elementary $1,000, Fairview Elementary $1,000, Grand Oaks Elementary $1,000, Lake City Elementary $1,000, Norris Elementary $3,000, Norris Middle $7,000, Norwood Elementary $2,000, and Norwood Middle $2,000.
Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge High School earned an A letter grade for the third-consecutive year, while six schools earned B letter grades, and one school was denoted as a C, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
“Letter grades are one of many tools we use to help identify areas to get better,” Bruce Borchers, superintendent of Oak Ridge Schools, said in a news release. “Analyzing the components of our letter-grade score helps us pinpoint opportunities for improvement so we can make informed decisions when designing and delivering instruction to our students. It is normal to see fluctuations in letter grades from year-to-year as we adjust our instructional practices to meet the changing needs of our students, and we welcome the opportunity to use this data point among many others to continue to improve.”
During spring testing, Oak Ridge Schools outperformed the state average in every tested grade band and subject area.
Collectively, ORS students performed 12.9 percentage points higher than the state average score.
In the letter-grade calculation, however, student achievement is weighted almost equal to student growth, or how much a student grows in a single year.
Oak Ridge Schools blamed this aspect of the calculation for preventing schools in the district from earning higher letter grades.
Robertsville Middle School saw large increases in student proficiency in math, science and social studies, and outperformed the state average in each of those subject areas, but ultimately earned C letter grades due to decreases in student growth scores.
“I am extremely proud of Oak Ridge High School for maintaining an ‘A’ letter grade for the third-consecutive year,” Borchers said.
“The staff and students have worked incredibly hard to build a culture that is centered around student achievement, and this designation is a testament to that work. As with any assessment, we will use these letter grades as an opportunity to celebrate the good work happening in our schools and identify areas where we can continue to improve and positively impact our students.
“While our student-achievement numbers remain ahead of the state averages, we will continue to use data from our predictive assessments throughout the year to implement strategies targeting student growth, and remain diligent doing what’s best for our students.”
School Board
The Tennessee Department of Education released its 2024–25 State Report Cards, showing overall improvement across Anderson County schools based on achievement, growth and, for high schools, college and career readiness.
Clinton City Schools earned an “Advancing” district designation, with Clinton Elementary receiving an A and South Clinton and North Clinton elementaries each earning B grades.
Clinton City Schools Director Kelly Johnson said the grading scale is rigorous, noting that all district schools exceeded a full year of student growth to earn their grades.
Anderson County Schools continued a multiyear upward trend, with 11 schools improving their letter grades and two schools jumping two letter grades in a single year.
Andersonville Elementary School, Clinton High School and Norris Middle School earned A grades, while seven other Anderson County schools received B ratings.
Anderson County Schools also earned federal recognition as an “Advancing District,” with Norris Elementary, Norris Middle and Clinton High named Reward Schools.
The Anderson County Board of Education approved financial incentives totaling thousands of dollars for schools based on letter grades, growth and improvement benchmarks.
Oak Ridge Schools reported Oak Ridge High School earning an A for the third straight year, while district officials said strong achievement scores were offset by growth calculations that limited higher letter grades at some schools.
