Dickson educators say student growth should be a key part of a new system to grade public schools

Parents and educators in Dickson kicked off a series of town hall events across the state Tuesday night designed to help the state grade its public schools.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) is hosting a total ten forums throughout August and September to fine tune the long awaited A-F School Letter Grades. When it launches in November, the new accountability resource will provide the public with a clear understanding of where schools fall on a grading scale in comparison to other schools.“What we wanna hear from you about is how do we measure a school’s academic progress. We’re thinking about developing a letter grade system for schools that’s really intended to provide parents and families with clear, understandable information that’s comparable across the state,” said a TDOE representative in the hearing.The School Letter Grades will use four accountability measures for every school in the state: academics, growth, chronically out of school, and English Language proficiency. High schools have two additional accountability measures which are graduation rate and graduation readiness.Out of the accountability measures, some residents in Dickson, including school leaders, felt student growth is a more accurate indicator of the progress schools and teachers are making.“We want to be held accountable for achievement, but we know our teachers have the greatest impact on growth. And for that reason, we believe I know as a district and instructional folk and most of our principals, we believe that growth should count more than achievement,” said Dickson County Schools Director of Secondary Education Robbie Faulkner. “I also have to speak for my science and social students and history teachers. Many times, their growth does not count toward that overall grade. And it should. We talk about every student, every day counting -every teacher should count.”Whether students are properly learning how to prepare for college and life after graduation also came up as a potential measure for School Letter Grades.“Something for readiness. Have we taught them how to study? Have we taught them digital skills? Have we taught them how to use Microsoft products so they can get a job afterwards. I know many high school graduates don’t know how to use Excel. So things like that. Are we teaching digital skills, are we teaching them how to study, be successful, those type of things,” said parent Kasey Mehanny.Tennessee lawmakers passed legislation in 2016 requiring schools to be graded with an A through F system. The COVID-19 pandemic and other factors delayed the roll-out of School Letter Grades until this year.The next meeting will take place on Thursday, August 17 at General Morgan Inn in Greeneville, Tennessee. The meeting will be available to watch on livestream.Public comment submissions will additionally be accepted until September 15.