Are Williamson County schools really better, OR... (Franklin, Brentwood: 2015, houses)

[nashdesignguy]

Are Williamson County schools really better, OR...are children of affluent (and likely, more educated) parents more likely to do well in school because of their environment at home?


Has anyone provided any empirical evidence to show that students in Williamson County outperform their counterparts in Davidson County, given all other factors are as controlled or equal as possible?


Here's some of the data...


Williamson County
Great School rating: 10
Estimated median household income in 2015: $102,881
Detached houses (mean price): $466,294


Davidson County
Great Schools rating: 4
Estimated median household income in 2015: $52,026
Detached houses (mean price): $272,284


You can see in Davidson County that elementary schools in affluent areas are rated much higher than their counterparts in less affluent areas.


Percy Priest Elementary School - Forrest Hills - Great Schools rating: 10
Cane Ridge Elementary School - Antioch - Great Schools rating: 2


This is just one example, but given this more or less holds true across Davidson County, it would support the hypothesis that the schools themselves might not provide a better education. Rather, that children are in an environment at home that may have a causal relationship with their test scores, etc. For instance, if parents have more money, they are also more likely to have achieved a higher level of education and may value things like reading to their kids more often.


What do you think? Are Williamson County schools overrated?

[budgiegirl]

Your question is a fair one, and not easily answered because of the confounding points you raise. The children of Williamson County by and large are from middle class through affluent families. (although there are lower income pockets). Also the Wilco families tend to value education which is why they moved to Williamson County to begin with. So the schools have the benefit of great demographics. Also the schools are safe - which enhances learning and minimizes distractions. The tax base is strong so kids with special needs tend to get services they would not get at some Nashville schools ( I say this knowing people with special needs kids who move to Wilco for this reason.). I have not seen any study controlling for all these socio-economic factors.

That being said, Wilco is still a public school system and adheres strongly to "teaching to the test". The kids perform well on standardized tests, but they spend an awful lot of time preparing for those tests at the expense of what I would consider more creative learning, critical thinking, and advanced writing skills. For this reason, I ended up taking my kids out of the Williamson County schools, because I felt that they were being given a rather "canned education", even if it translated to high standardized test scores. I did not find it inspiring. You can take my experience with a grain of salt. Most people think I am nuts to live in Williamson County but spend money on a private school in Nashville. I have not regretted it.

To your point about demographics, there is certainly variation of performance within Williamson County regarding school performance. Brentwood High School and Ravenwood outperform the others - and that correlates directly with student demographics in my opinion (Brentwood has a different demographic than Franklin or Spring Hill). I suspect nothing magically different about the teaching at those schools. But even if we agree that its "the demographics" that are shaping the results, the results are still real.. meaning that if you surround your child with other children who are motivated or come from motivated/upwardly mobile families, then they are likely to be pushed and challenged by their peers, teachers and parents. The end result is that the individual child benefits from those demographics.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by budgiegirl

Brentwood High School and Ravenwood outperform the others - and that correlates directly with student demographics in my opinion (Brentwood has a different demographic than Franklin or Spring Hill), nothing magically different about the teaching at those schools.

Nothing different?

They don't have the same teachers at those schools.

[Drake744]

As someone who grew up in Mt. Juliet and went to public schools there, I wonder about this from the standpoint of comparing Williamson to Wilson County schools. (The same could go for Sumner, Rutherford, whatever other suburban counties). I don't keep up with these things but it's my understanding that Wilson County schools are, for the most part, pretty respectable as a secondary option in comparison to Williamson while not having nearly the county-wide affluence. It seems like that would be a good look for the school system if there is something to the theory of the OP....which I believe there easily could be.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Drake744

As someone who grew up in Mt. Juliet and went to public schools there, I wonder about this from the standpoint of comparing Williamson to Wilson County schools. (The same could go for Sumner, Rutherford, whatever other suburban counties). I don't keep up with these things but it's my understanding that Wilson County schools are, for the most part, pretty respectable as a secondary option in comparison to Williamson while not having nearly the county-wide affluence. It seems like that would be a good look for the school system if there is something to the theory of the OP....which I believe there easily could be.

Correction: Mount Juliet schools are, for the most part, pretty respectable as a secondary option in comparison to Williamson. Lebanon's schools are dreadful.

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by JMT

Correction: Mount Juliet schools are, for the most part, pretty respectable as a secondary option in comparison to Williamson. Lebanon's schools are dreadful.

Yeah okay I thought that might have been the case. Thanks for the clarification. Mt. Juliet seems like its own little world compared to the rest of Wilson County but maybe that's just me.

[BeeHoyal]

Cedar Grove Elem. in the much (incorrectly) maligned LaVergne area was a "9" on great schools while rural outposts in Rutherford County such as Lascassas and Eagleville were also at 9. Academic quality can happen in a variety of socioeconomic environments.

[septimus]

I'll speak from experience.. granted my experience for comparison is only 2 weeks in. We were in WCS for 7 years and Metro for 2 weeks. I'm loving JT Moore. The principal is great, and great leadership makes a great school. We just had back to school night and his teachers seem great. I was not impressed with our middle school experience in WCS. My youngest is still in elementary and he seems to think the schools are about the same but MNPS started serving meatballs the 2 week of schools and his old school never served them until the last month of the school year so in his mind his metro school is better .

I think a lot of how good a school is the affluence it draws from. Ambitious college educated parents are going to make sure their kids get what they need even if that means enriching outside the classroom or investing heavily in the PTO.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by JMT

Correction: Mount Juliet schools are, for the most part, pretty respectable as a secondary option in comparison to Williamson. Lebanon's schools are dreadful.

Rutherford schools are a good alternative to Williamson as well.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by Shakeesha

Rutherford schools are a good alternative to Williamson as well.

And Sumner.

And to answer the original question, I think both are true. Maybe it's a chicken/egg scenario. You have educated parents with high expectations so the schools respond to meet the expectations. You definitely get some options you don't get in other systems.
In my kids freshman class, it was generally expected that anyone average to above average kids would start with an AP class as a freshman. Brentwood High has raised their ACT average to a 27 from a 25.2 a few years ago. They also now have a teacher who teaches a 1/2 day and spends the other 1/2 focusing on increasing ACT scores. So there are lots of resources at the school. But there is also a lot of pressure. And not even so much from the school, the kids put a tremendous amount of pressure on themselves. So it might not be a good fit for for a lot of kids. I suspect there may be a decent amount of smart kids who feel like they are not as smart as they are due to the competition at Brentwood High.