Lake County Schools awaits state guidance on school letter grades; district builds assessment calendar

Lake County Schools officials told the board they are waiting for the Tennessee Department of Education to clarify how it will weigh achievement and growth when issuing school letter grades, and they described a district assessment calendar intended to produce data before state grades are assigned.

A district staff member said that when the law was written, some definitions were left to the department and that district leaders expect more clarity by October with letter grades to follow in November. "That letter grade is very deceiving. It's disingenuous to the work depending on the weight," the staff member said, summarizing district concerns about overemphasizing achievement at the expense of growth.

The district has a locally developed assessment schedule prepared by "Mandy's team," the staff member said. The calendar includes benchmark checks that are both skills-based and standards-based; district leaders said they want fidelity to that calendar so staff can conduct regular data chats and understand trends ahead of state testing. Officials said the district does not want to wait until the final state score to determine progress toward potential accountability-related incentives like a 3% measure mentioned during the meeting.

District presenters said the state department had solicited input from districts as it developed the guidance, and that those state-level decisions will determine how local results are translated into a single letter grade.

Board members asked for further updates and for the district to report back once the Tennessee Department of Education releases its weighting guidance.