At Trousdale County Schools, which also won
the district SCORE Prize in 2013, value-added
and assessment data are closely monitored from
elementary school on. Value-added data guide
about 85 percent of classroom forming decisions starting with late elementary grades. The
district and schools use the data to divide students into three tertiles – low, medium, and high
achievers – and monitor which teachers tend to
foster the most growth from students within each
group. Placements are adjusted based on student performance, as often as every nine weeks
at the middle school grades.
There are other factors considered when forming
classes, like kids who don’t need to be together or
personalities that don’t match. But in most cases,
students are grouped in classes with similarly
achieving peers and taught by the instructors most
likely to help them succeed.
The district’s goal is for each student to have a
personalized learning path. Making this happen
begins with leveled classes but doesn’t end there.
At Trousdale County’s middle school – Jim B.
Satterfield Middle, named in honor of Mr. Satterfield’s father – a unique schedule delivers some
form of intervention to all students, whether kids
are in need of enrichment or RTI2. Kids on an RTI
schedule are in 90-minute “coach” blocks of time
every other day, receiving skills-based instruction in math and English language arts. All staff
members– regardless of subject area – help teach
these classes, keeping student groups very small.
“Every kid has the opportunity to grow,” Principal
James McCall said. “If every student and every