Knox County Schools are making academic progress, but there is still room for improvement.
According to a release from Knox County Schools, the Tennessee Department of Education recently recognized school districts across the state that significantly improved student performance and narrowed achievement gaps under Tennessee's new accountability system.
Schools were designated as Exemplary, In Need of Improvement, or In Need of Subgroup Improvement.
Knox County Schools say they met all of its Annual Measureable Objectives (AMOs) for the previous school year. They say that means they achieved the required percent of annual growth in the percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced on standardized tests.
However, while the Knox County Schools met every achievement target, they say they did not meet the majority of gap closure targets. Because of that, the district joined 57 others across the state in being considered Intermediate. The school system will be receiving more detailed data from the Tennessee Department of Education in the coming weeks.
"The bottom line is our results show that we are continuing to make solid, steady academic progress, and we are grateful to our teachers, students, parents, and staff for their tremendous focus on academic achievement," said Dr. Jim McIntyre, Superintendent of the Knox County Schools. "There is much to be proud of in our 2011-12 academic achievement results, and a few areas to focus some additional attention. We will use these diagnostic data to inform our educational and instructional decisions in order to continuously improve, and achieve our ambitious academic goal of Excellence for All Children."