Carter County board accepts TISA accountability report, keeps current improvement strategies

The Carter County School Board voted to accept the district's TISA accountability report, which the district must upload to the state by Nov. 1. Board members approved the report after staff presented required goals, recent results and planned interventions.

A district presenter told the board that Tennessee's TISA funding and accountability framework requires districts to set improvement goals; the state-mandated target noted in the report is that by 2028, 70% of third-graders should score proficient on the third-grade BLA/TCAP assessment. The presenter said last year's third-grade proficiency rate in the district was 49.9% and that the district recorded a 2.7 percentage-point increase year over year.

The report sets two district goals: third-grade reading proficiency and increasing the share of students who meet "ready grad" criteria for college and career readiness. To pursue those goals, staff said the district will continue several strategies already in place: fund additional third-grade ELA teachers; use Benchmark Advanced curriculum with fidelity and follow-up instructional walks and feedback; provide high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring; purchase Accelerated Reader materials districtwide; plan targeted summer school; and hold districtwide common planning for third-grade ELA teachers.

For high schools, the district plans to continue funding an additional math teacher at each high school, maintain individual learning plans (IOPs) and increase collaboration between the district data analyst, counselors and CTE staff to improve ACT and "ready grad" outcomes. The district also said it will continue partnerships with Northeast State and TCAT of Elizabethton for dual-enrollment opportunities and will administer the ASVAB to juniors and seniors as part of the ready-grad strategy.

Danny Ward moved to accept the TISA accountability report; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote recorded in the meeting minutes (see action record). The board did not alter the district's improvement strategies during the vote and directed staff to submit the report to the state by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Ending: The district will continue the current combination of instructional hires, curriculum work, tutoring and postsecondary partnerships as documented in the approved TISA report.