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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20, 2011

Three Schools and One School District Recognized For Dramatically Improving Student Achievement

(Nashville) - The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) tonight announced the four winners of the first annual SCORE Prize Award at an event at the historic Ryman Auditorium. The winners, three schools and one school district, were recognized for dramatically improving student achievement in spite of the challenges they face. The awards show featured remarks from Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, SCORE Chairman and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman, and SCORE CEO Jamie Woodson. The evening concluded with a performance by Grammy-nominated country music artist Josh Turner.

The 2011 SCORE Prize winners are:

Elementary
Fairview Elementary, Anderson County
Middle
Power Center Academy, Memphis
High
Mt. Juliet High School, Wilson County
District
Maryville City Schools

“Tonight is a celebration of excellence in public education," said SCORE Chairman Bill Frist. “The SCORE Prize winners are truly examples of success, and prove that even in the face of challenges it is possible to improve learning outcomes for all students. We recognize and commend their accomplishments in preparing more and more students for college and the workforce.”

The SCORE Prize school winners received $10,000, and the district winner received $25,000. Winners were chosen in a two-step process; the first stage identified finalists through a multi-staged criteria selection process that set benchmarks for attendance rate, TVAAS growth, and TCAP improvement, and awarded bonus points for ACT college-readiness benchmark rates and college-going rates, among others; the second stage consisted of site visits of the finalists to document the policies and practices that have enabled schools and districts to make significant gains in student achievement.

About the Winners

Fairview Elementary serves 278 students in Anderson County. 60.6 percent of the school’s students are economically disadvantaged. In the last year, the school has increased its number of students who are proficient or advanced on the math TCAP from the 30th decile to the 50th decile. Fairview’s three-year TVAAS growth average is 14.01 in math and 8.99 in reading.
Power Center Academy serves 191 students in Memphis. The school is a charter school, and 85 percent of the school’s students are economically disadvantaged. In the last year, the school has increased its number of students who are proficient or advanced on the math TCAP from the 20th to the 30th decile. Power Center Academy’s three-year TVAAS growth average is 9.72 in math and 6.93 in reading. Over the last year, the school has narrowed the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students by 9.82 points in reading and 18.66 points in math.
Mt. Juliet High School serves 1,775 students in Wilson County. The school’s three-year TVAAS growth average is 8.38 in Algebra I and 5.72 in English II. Over the last year, the school has narrowed the achievement gap between Hispanic and white students by 16.41 points in math. The school’s three-year ACT average is 21.
Maryville City Schools serves 4,890 students in East Tennessee. 33.1 percent of the district’s students are economically disadvantaged. The district’s three-year TVAAS growth average is 14.3 in math, 3.8 in reading, 5.0 in Algebra I, and 4.0 in English II. The district’s three-year ACT average is 23.8. Over the last year, the district has narrowed the achievement gap between Hispanic and white students by 29.33 points in math.

In the coming weeks, SCORE will release videos and case studies of all 12 SCORE Prize finalists. This work will be used to highlight best practices in improving public education in Tennessee.

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works with state and local governments to encourage sound policy decisions in public education and advance innovative reform on a statewide basis.