Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced the 2018 Reward and Priority schools, which are two key designations under Tennessee’s school accountability system. This was the first year Tennessee implemented its new school accountability model, which was developed with educators and stakeholders across the state and which looks at multiple measures of success.
Reward status is the top distinction a school can earn in Tennessee. Reward schools are those that are improving overall student academic achievement and student growth for all students and for student groups, and they are identified annually. In 2018, 318 schools in 85 school districts – about 20 percent of schools in the state – earned Reward status.
Priority schools are identified at least every three years, and they are the schools most in need of support and improvement. Priority schools fall into the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state test scores over the past three years and have low graduation rates. Following legislation passed this spring, 2017-18 TNReady data was not used to identify Priority schools.
Hillsboro Elementary was listed as a Reward school along Robert E Lee Elementary in Tullahoma. No schools in Coffee County were listed as Priority schools.