Achievement School District

Last updated
Achievement School District
Achievement School District Logo.jpg
Address
710 James Robertson Pkwy
Nashville
, Tennessee , 37243
United States
District information
Grades6–12
Schools3 (2024-25) [1]
NCES District ID 4700147 [2]
Other information
Website www.tn.gov/achievementschooldistrict.html

The Achievement School District (ASD) is a specialized public school district in Tennessee providing academic intervention in the lowest performing schools in Tennessee, with the goal of increasing student achievement in those schools. [3] The ASD's assigned task is to move the bottom 5% of schools in Tennessee to the top 25% of schools in the state. [4] The Achievement School District was created to cause "school turnaround," a term meaning rapid results in poorer-performing schools. [5] The Achievement School District is modeled after the Louisiana Recovery School District and takes elements from Michigan's state-run district for failing schools as well. [6]

Contents

History

Tennessee received funding from the federal government to create the Achievement School District when it won Race to the Top, a United States Department of Education contest created to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K–12 education. [7] The Achievement School District was created to improve student achievement in Tennessee's Priority Schools—those in the bottom 5% in the state—and in so doing, increasing students' career options and life outcomes. It is modeled from principles of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Obama's Race to the Top legislation. [8] Various states submit their budget proposals in order to receive financial support. Schools in desperate need of change are labelled as priority schools. [5] Those priority schools are added into this school district with the goal to be eventually released back into city and state school systems. [9] They acquire staff from programs such as the Memphis Teacher Residency and Teach for America. [6]

However, research published by Brown University in 2024 found that ASD did not significantly improve students' test scores nor high school graduation rates. [10] In April 2025, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed legislature to replace ASD with a tiered intervention system starting in the 2026-27 school year. This decision was made to give local school districts more control over what intervention methods to utilize. [11]

Leadership

Malika Anderson was named the superintendent of the Achievement School District in November 2015 by the Tennessee Department of Education. She was preceded by Chris Barbic, who served in the role from 2011 to 2015. The district depends on charter management organizations (CMOs) in order to run and fund these charter schools. [12] CMOs come from various sources such as the state, national organizations, and financial donors. [5] The Achievement School District creates autonomy for these schools to launch the programs they need. [12]

Schools

The bottom 5% of Tennessee schools include 83 schools across Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. [13] [14] As of May 2025, there are 3 schools in the ASD: Hillcrest High School, Kirby Middle School, and Wooddale Middle School. They are all located in Memphis and operated by IOTA Community Schools. [1]

Former Schools

Elementary school
SchoolGrades servedSchool operatorLocationYear opened
Aspire Coleman ElementaryPK–6Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2014
Aspire Hanley Elementary #1K–7Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2013
Aspire Hanley Elementary #2PK–5Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2013
Cornerstone Prep – Denver CampusK–5Capstone Education GroupMemphis2015
Cornerstone Prep – Lester CampusPK–5Capstone Education GroupMemphis2012
Corning Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012
Frayser Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012
Georgian Hills Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2013
KIPP Memphis Academy ElementaryK–2KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2013
KIPP Memphis Preparatory ElementaryK–1KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2015
Klondike Preparatory AcademyK–5Gestalt Community SchoolsMemphis2013
Libertas School at BrookmeadePK–2Libertas School of MemphisMemphis2015
Memphis Scholars Caldwell-GuthriePK–5Memphis ScholarsMemphis2016
Memphis Scholars Florida-KansasK–5Memphis ScholarsMemphis2015
Promise Academy-Spring HillPK–3Promise AcademyMemphis2013
Whitney Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2013
Middle school
SchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear opened
Brick Church College Prep5–8 LEAD Public Schools Nashville2012
Humes Preparatory Academy6–8Gestalt Community SchoolsMemphis2012
KIPP Memphis Preparatory Middle5–7KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2013
KIPP Memphis University Middle6–7KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2014
Lester Prep6–8Capstone Education GroupMemphis2014
Memphis Scholars Raleigh-Egypt6–8Memphis ScholarsMemphis2016
Neely's Bend College Prep5–6LEAD Public SchoolsNashville2015
Westside Achievement Middle School6–8Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012
High school
SchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear opened
Fairley High School9–12 Green Dot Public Schools Memphis2014
GRAD Academy Memphis9–12Project Grad USAMemphis2013
Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory High School 9–12Frayser Community SchoolsMemphis2014
Alternative
SchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear opened
Pathways in Education–Memphis in Frayser9–12Pathways in EducationMemphis2014
Pathways in Education–Memphis in Whitehaven9–12Pathways in EducationMemphis2015

School operators

References

  1. 1 2 "Member Schools". Achievement School District. TN.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  2. ↑ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Achievement School District". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved 2025-05-12.
  3. ↑ "Achievement School District". Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation, and Development. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Achievement School District". Achievement School District. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Glazer, Joshua L.; Massell, Diane; Malone, Matthew (September 2018). "Charter Schools in Turnaround: Competing Institutional Logics in the Tennessee Achievement School District". Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis . 41 (1): 5–33. doi: 10.3102/0162373718795051 . ISSN   0162-3737.
  6. 1 2 Rich, Motoko (April 3, 2013). "Crucible of Change in Memphis as State Takes On Failing Schools". New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Cardona, Nina (June 8, 2010). "Federal Definition Will Affect Achievement School District Numbers". Nashville Public Radio . Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Race to the Top Fund". US Department of Education . Archived from the original on July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ Kim, Juli; Field, Tim; Hargrave, Elaine (2015). "The Achievement School District: Lessons from Tennessee" (PDF). Public Impact. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Aldrich, Marta W. (November 1, 2024). "Tennessee's costly, disruptive school turnaround work didn't help students long term, says new research". Chalkbeat Tennessee. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  11. ↑ Lubbers, Max (2025-04-21). "Tennessee passes bill to replace failed school turnaround program". Chalkbeat Tennessee. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
  12. 1 2 Zimmer, Ron; Henry, Gary T.; Kho, Adam (December 2017). "The Effects of School Turnaround in Tennessee's Achievement School District and Innovation Zones" . Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 39 (4): 670–696. doi:10.3102/0162373717705729. ISSN   0162-3737.
  13. ↑ "Achievement Advisory Council For Potential Achievement School District Schools" (PDF). Achievement School District. Retrieved 28 March 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ Aldrich, Marta (September 14, 2021). "Seven schools exit Tennessee's toughest school improvement list". Chalkbeat Tennessee. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
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