Charter commission staff report most schools met standards; Tennessee Nature Academy did not meet academic standard

At the Jan. 23 meeting of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission’s School Performance and Accountability Committee in Memphis, staff presented the commission’s 2023–24 annual authorizing report, which summarizes academic, organizational and financial performance for the commission’s schools.

The report covered 13 schools operating in 2023–24. Rebecca Ledderbur, the commission’s data and accountability coordinator, told commissioners the portfolio grew from nine schools and about 3,600 students two years earlier to 13 schools with roughly 4,700 students in 2023–24 and to 17 schools with about 6,600 students in the current year. “This presentation is going to focus on the school year annual authorizing report,” Ledderbur said as she opened the item.

Why it matters: the annual report is the authorizer’s public summary of school performance and underpins oversight and renewal decisions.

Key findings - Academic: Staff reported 12 of 13 schools met or exceeded standards on the academic section of the school performance framework; one school—Tennessee Nature Academy—did not meet the academic standard. Ledderbur said the academic framework combines four measures: student outcomes (letter grades), mission‑specific goals, comparative performance with the resident district, and TVAAS (growth). “12 out of our 13 schools met standard on the academic section,” she said. - Organizational and financial: Staff said 12 of 13 schools met standard organizationally, and the schools that had submitted audits met standard on the financial section. One audit remained pending under an approved extension from the state comptroller.

Tennessee Nature Academy: staff described Tennessee Nature Academy as a single‑site school in its first year of operation that received a level‑1 TVAAS (growth) score and had lower performance in ELA and math than the commission requires. Ledderbur and other staff said the school’s leadership and governing board have engaged with commission staff, staff completed an annual site visit in recent months and the board is working with commission staff; staff said they “do not have ongoing concerns” at this time but will continue monitoring and regular follow‑up.

Framework review: staff also told the committee they will open the school performance framework for targeted refinements this year to ensure the indicators measure the intended outcomes. Ledderbur said staff will share a redline of proposed changes in March and seek final adoption in July.

What’s next: staff will publish a final annual report after receipt of the outstanding audit. Commissioners asked staff to continue to meet with individual governing boards to walk through data from the report.

Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on the annual report at the meeting; staff said they will publish a final draft once the outstanding audit is received and will continue routine board briefings and site visits.