Excellence for All Children State of the Schools Knox County Schools January 19, 2012

 Agenda o Context: A Remarkable Time for Education in Tennessee o Strategic Plan: Goals & Accomplishments o Student Academic Results (Solid Academic Progress) o Challenges (We Must Do Better!) o Ambitious Vision for the Future o Strategic Investments to Bridge the Gap o Conclusion State of the Schools 2

 Educational Reform & Improvement: o Radically higher academic standards in Tennessee (and moving to the Common Core) o New performance evaluation system (TEAM) o Strategic Compensation (APEX) o Key changes in state education policy Fundamental Restructuring of Tenure Collaborative Conferencing A Remarkable Time 3

Five-Year Strategic Plan: Excellence for All Children Excellence for All Children 4 Focus on the Student Engaged Parents & Community Infrastructure to Support Student Learning Effective Educators Accountability

Five-Year Strategic Plan: Excellence for All Children Excellence for All Children Strategic Plan Goals:  Focus on the student to ensure they excel academically and are prepared for life beyond the classroom  Recruit, select, induct, develop, support, compensate and retain effective educators  Engage parents and community in a meaningful way to support student learning  Build the infrastructure to enable and support student learning and district goals  Accountability: ensure that all adults are focused on achieving results for children 5

 Goal 1: Focus on the Student o High Standards & Expectations o Individual Needs & Engagement: 9 th Grade Academies, Advisories, Research-based instructional strategies o L&N STEM Academy HS o Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy  Goal 2: Effective Educators o TEAM evaluation system / Lead Teachers o Expansion of TAP System to 18 schools o APEX Strategic Compensation o Leadership Academy Strategic Plan: Accomplishments 6

 Goal 3: Engaged Families and Community o Professional Development to KCS personnel o District-wide Parent Conference o Parent University o Pond Gap Full-Service Community School Pilot o Volunteer Management System  Goal 4: Infrastructure to Support Student Learning o Downsized & Reorganized Central Office (8% reduction in positions in FY12 alone) o Education Information Management System (EMIS) Data Warehouse Strategic Plan: Accomplishments 7

 The Good News: We’re Making Solid Academic Progress… o Increases in Overall Achievement (all 4 subject areas) o Graduation Rate (7.3% increase in three years) o Solid Academic Growth in most subjects and grade levels o 100/90/90/90: increasing % of ninth graders who graduate within 4 years and score a 21 or better on the ACT. o Significant increase in ACT takers and AP & Honors enrollees o Progress on closing some achievement gaps Strategic Plan: Academic Results 8

 Challenges: …But We Simply Must Do Better! o Only 19% of the Class of 2011 met all four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks o Only 47% of 3 rd grade Student Proficient or Advanced on TCAP in Reading /English Language Arts o 100/90/90/90 Goal = 73% of incoming Freshman graduating 4 years later with a 21 on the ACT. Class of 2011 = 38% (Class of 2009 = 34%; Class of 2010 = 37%) o Achievement Gaps Defined by Income, Race, Disability & Language Strategic Plan: Academic Results 9

We envision a future for the Knox County Schools where all of our students achieve at high levels and every school is a school of distinction; a future where high expectations and teacher collaboration are universal… Parents, community members, universities and businesses will all be active, engaged partners in the education of our young people… All of our teachers will be outstanding instructional practitioners and will be selected, inducted, supported, promoted, evaluated and compensated as professionals… We believe that innovation and creativity will be the hallmarks of our school district: in teaching, in management and particularly in student learning… All of our students will graduate high school ready for college, career and life… In short, We envision a future where we will achieve academic excellence for all of our children. Ambitious Vision (from Strategic Plan, 2009) 10

 Proven Strategies to Accelerate our Progress : o More instructional time (Extended day / year, balanced calendar, etc. particularly for struggling students and/or high need schools) o Consistently excellent magnet programs o Enhanced professional development and instructional support for teachers (Mentor Teachers, Instructional Coaches, etc.) o Supplementary instructional technology tools o Expanded performance pay (build on APEX) o Additional interventions for struggling students & enrichment opportunities for excelling students Bridging the Gap: Critical Investments 11

“We should rightly celebrate our successes and be proud of what we have accomplished together to date; but quite frankly… we can do better, we must do better, and with your help, we will do better. The future of our children, and the vitality of our community depend on our success.” - Superintendent Jim McIntyre 2012 State of the Schools Address Conclusion 12

Discussion and Questions

Appendixes: Data & Graphs

Strategic Plan Results - Achievement 15

Strategic Plan Results - Achievement 16

Strategic Plan Results – Graduation Rate * There was a one-time adjustment to graduation rate in 2010 in transition to the NGA definition of graduation rate. The official graduation rate was 86.6%. 17

Strategic Plan Results - TVAAS 18

Strategic Plan Results - TVAAS 19

Strategic Plan Results - TVAAS 20

Strategic Plan Results -ACT 21

Solid progress, but a long way to go: Strategic Plan Results – 100/90/90/90 22

Strategic Plan Results – Achievement Gaps 23

Strategic Plan Results – Achievement Gaps 24