Schools & Tennessee (Kingston, Gray: home, rent, income)

[Mike in TN]

The way I look at, the average student from TN who's just getting by probably won't receive as good of an education as an average student would in the northeast or upper midwest (for whatever reasons).

However, the brightest students from TN are probably on par with the brightest students from those areas.

The students here who are serious about school go on to great universities and do wonderful things, just like students do elsewhere.

[hiknapster]

Sorry about that. I don't read all the threads, like I use to. Just noticed the responses.

I copied the list off of another thread in Florida. I was just really impressed, because New England has four states in the top five!

Anyway, I don't know how realiable this list really is, since it looks like 2003 stats and the website is questionable.

I'll try to find better stats, which I imagine one could do on one's own, too.

Ranking of Elementary Schools in USA

[hiknapster]

Here's a recent list. This one definitely rings a bell, pun intended.

It puts Tennessee at 30. New England still has four of the top five states, of course.

Smartest State 2006-2007

[mbmouse]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Here's a recent list. This one definitely rings a bell, pun intended.

It puts Tennessee at 30. New England still has four of the top five states, of course.

Smartest State 2006-2007

Not sure how reliable that source is as it is two people doing the research, but then again, they may be the two best people to do this too so it might be right on? However it was very interesting to see that between the last two years, TN schools gained the highest increase in points towards the positive factors for "smartest" schools. Interesting site, thanks for post Hiknapster.

[LauraC]

Look them up. I know some people hate No Child Left Behind but when you are moving and need to compare schools, you need to look at standardized test scores.

Here's the Database link for 2006. I think the 2007 Report Cards come out in November.

TN Department of Education:

Info about a School District

There are two search boxes. Skip the top one and go to the second one below it.

Where it says View System Report Card, select the school district from the drop down menu. You'll see Part 1 System Profile. You want to use the drop down box on that page to look at Part II and Part III to see the School District's report card on indivdual academic subjects. (Note: Some cities have their own school districts within a county so don't automatically assume the school district is the name of the county.)

Info About An Individual School Within A School District

Go back to the page where it said Part I System Profile and scroll down all the way to the bottom of the page. You will see View School Report Card - Select A School. Use the drop down menu to select a particular school within that school district. When the info comes up, you want to again, look at Part II and Part III to see that particular school's report card on individual school subjects.

At this particular stage of the game (while you are still exploring where to live), if a school district has more than one elementary school, middle school or high school, you may not know which school district your kids would attend but if you see a school you prefer, you might tell a realtor that you only want to look at homes in the area that the particular school you are interested in, services.

[jimj]

We are currently living in #9 and have lived in #41 and #23 and I can tell you that we had better schools in GA than here. I think these results are skewed by population size etc.

[gemkeeper]

I have been holding my tongue for several days now while reading this thread. Now, that it is on page 2, just couldn't help but put my two cents worth in. (I hope it is worth more than that!)

You can read all of the reports and scores that you can find, but a school district is only as good as the parents, community and school officials backing it.

Just because the scores - the almighty scores - are low does not mean that the students are not as bright as higher scoring districts, nor does it mean the quality of teaching is not up to par. School districts' rankings are so often a function of demographics. Where housing is cheaper or there are a lot of rentals, you may find more single parent households, immigrant families unfamiliar with English, and many parents whose highest priority is not education, but merely feeding their families.

Are these children less intelligent or bright than children in higher rated districts? Absolutely not! Their intellectual nuturing has probably not been as inspired as that of children from more affluent, highly educated families. These families are found where? Right, in the higher scoring school districts.

Parents can very often make the difference between a higher rated school district and a lower one. Is this a fault of parents who have not had higher education or are having a tough time making ends meet? No, that is not the implication at all. It is just a result of life's circumstances.

Schools are being forced to teach to tests so that their state and federal funding keeps rolling in. This puts unfair pressure on teachers, students and school boards. It robs your children and teachers of the spontaneity in learning that makes it so exciting. Teachers are bored with required letter by letter curriculums and so are the children. They all need to be able to exercise their creativity and be allowed the thrill of an "eureka!"

These perfectly normal and intelligent children being raised and educated in lower scoring school districts can do just as well as the children in the districts that every parent here wants their child to attend. They just need a little help to get there.

Parent involvement in school organizations, volunteering to help out in classrooms or after-school activities, reading to your child from infancy (I know they don't understand the words, but they love and get used to the cadence of your voice reading those great rhyming words and seeing the familiar pictures every day.), helping your child with his homework, encouraging him and standing up for him when you think he needs special attention at school.

These things can create a very engaged child who is eager to learn, creates enthused teachers who are blessed with children who are hungry for knowledge, involves school officials who see that they have innovative parents and teachers and children who want a good education. This is turn can improve a school district's entire structure within 2 or 3 years, the scores rise, the state and federal funding increases and everyone comes out a winner - especially those kids!!

If you want your child to be in the best school district, make yours the best. Be there to help teachers, students, PTA organizations, libraries, school fund-raisers and the like. Your involvement and enthusiasm will be contagious, believe me, I have experienced it. Your child will be enthused and he will thrive.

But, start at birth, read, read, read to your child. Stimulate his little mind by talking to him, explaining things to him, providing lots of experiences at the zoo, the library, fairs, get-togethers with friends and family, family outings. He will be as bright as the brightest star in the sky. And, guess what - he'll love you for it.

Help to make your child's school the best for him!

[hiknapster]

I hate teaching to the test. It kills off a love for learning.

[jimj]

Excellent post gem! The other thing most people don't know is all special ed kids are thrown in on the scoring so if your school has a large special ed group your score would most likely be lower since they are judged at the same standard as non-special ed. I think that this is one thing that needs to change asap. As for tests, I asked our principal about all of this and his response was "we teach only to the tests". Boy, are our kids missing out!

[mbmouse]

Well said Gem!!! I could not agree more!
What really burns me is when you look at HOW those scores/stats that list "the best school rankings" are calculated. Such a large factor is funding per student. Well sure New England schools are listed high on the list, those are also the highest taxed states and the highest cost of living. But even some of those schools claim to "teach to the test". My boys are both in TN schools where the administration refuses to teach to the test. Yes, they get less funding due to that but my children are learning about a lot more than how to take a test. It is also the only school system I know of anywhere where you will not find a "supply list" in Wal-Mart before schools starts. The administrators believe that public education should not cost. But because of that philosophy the parents are more than happy to pay for and bring in any needed supplies. Here is also a kicker. There are 840 students in my youngest sons school, there are 706 PTO members. And the test scores are higher than the average.
You will NOT find that scenario in FL or New England public schools. The local high school here also has many full scholarship recipients every year to nationally ranked colleges across the country, but that is not figured into the "ranking scores". So while, yes, I agree you should look at the scores of a school before moving to an area, I would look hard at the method used to create those scores and decide what is important to you and your child's education and if those factors are included in the scoring.