Malone will join state officials and 17 other principals today in Nashville to receive the annual Value-Added Achievement Award, sponsored by the Education Consumers Foundation.
The nonprofit agency, a national consumer advocacy group that has collected and analyzed value-added data from the state, has been giving out the award for the last six years. The principals recognized have shown excellence in advancing students academically, as measured by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System.
Tennessee's testing system gauges student progress year over year, regardless of external factors such as socioeconomic status, by using a statistical model that analyzes annual Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program scores.
The principals were selected from more than 1,300 public elementary and middle schools in Tennessee, and prizes ranged from $1,000 to $3,000. Principals had to be at their schools at least five years to be considered, to ensure the test results were connected to their leadership.