To: 
   
  

 
  

Phil 
  Williams, 
  WTVF-­‐TV, 
  NewsChannel 
  5 
   
  

From: 
    
  

Communications 
  Office, 
  Metro 
  Nashville 
  Public 
  Schools 
   
  

Date: 
   
    
  

November 
  2, 
  2015 
  

Re: 
   
  

EOC 
  Concerns 
   
  

 
  

 
  

 
  

Beginning 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  October 
  19 
  and 
  continuing 
  throughout 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  October 
  26, 
  
there 
  have 
  been 
  regular 
  email 
  and 
  telephone 
  conversations 
  – 
  often 
  daily 
  – 
  to 
  address 
  your 
  
questions 
  related 
  to 
  accusations 
  that 
  some 
  Metro 
  high 
  schools 
  are 
  using 
  various 
  methods 
  to 
  
avoid 
  administering 
  state-­‐mandated 
  End-­‐of-­‐Course 
  (EOC) 
  exams 
  to 
  certain 
  students 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  
inflate 
  their 
  performance 
  data. 
  As 
  stated 
  numerous 
  times 
  throughout 
  these 
  conversations, 
  we 
  
take 
  these 
  accusations 
  extremely 
  seriously. 
  We 
  asked 
  for 
  evidence 
  of 
  specific 
  wrong-­‐doing 
  in 
  
your 
  possession 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  instances 
  in 
  question 
  can 
  be 
  thoroughly 
  investigated 
  and 
  to 
  allow 
  
us 
  to 
  fully 
  respond 
  to 
  your 
  story. 
  
Below 
  is 
  a 
  comprehensive 
  response 
  to 
  the 
  questions 
  you 
  have 
  posed 
  thus 
  far 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  
“general 
  EOC 
  concerns” 
  story 
  you 
  say 
  is 
  scheduled 
  to 
  air 
  this 
  evening, 
  Monday, 
  Nov. 
  2, 
  2015. 
  
This 
  response 
  includes 
  questions 
  and 
  requests 
  of 
  us, 
  along 
  with 
  a 
  summary 
  of 
  how 
  we 
  have 
  
fulfilled 
  them. 
  Further 
  responses 
  may 
  follow 
  related 
  to 
  other 
  specific 
  concerns 
  you 
  plan 
  to 
  
address 
  in 
  future 
  stories. 
  
General 
  Statement 
  on 
  EOC 
  Exams 
   
  
Students 
  are 
  required 
  to 
  take 
  all 
  state-­‐mandated 
  EOC 
  exams 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  
semester 
  of 
  a 
  course 
  regardless 
  of 
  when 
  or 
  how 
  they 
  complete 
  the 
  course. 
  To 
  determine 
  if 
  
there 
  is 
  evidence 
  of 
  a 
  wide-­‐spread 
  trend 
  with 
  students 
  not 
  completing 
  the 
  required 
  EOCs, 
  over 
  
the 
  last 
  week 
  our 
  Research 
  and 
  Evaluation 
  department 
  has 
  been 
  carefully 
  reviewing 
  transcript 
  
and 
  EOC 
  exam 
  files 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  recent 
  cohort 
  of 
  MNPS 
  graduates. 
   
  
Records 
  reviewed 
  to 
  date 
  indicate 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  evidence 
  of 
  systematic 
  avoidance 
  of 
  
EOC 
  exams. 
  We 
  have 
  found 
  a 
  relatively 
  small 
  number 
  of 
  students 
  who 
  received 
  a 
  regular 
  high 
  
school 
  diploma 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  2015 
  and 
  who 
  took 
  EOC 
  courses 
  in 
  our 
  schools 
  but 
  do 
  not 
  
appear 
  to 
  have 
  ever 
  attempted 
  the 
  EOC 
  exam. 
  The 
  department 
  went 
  through 
  several 
  years 
  of 
  
files 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  track 
  students’ 
  course 
  and 
  test 
  history. 
  Our 
  investigation 
  is 
  focused 
  on 
  the 
  
courses 
  for 
  which 
  the 
  Tennessee 
  Department 
  of 
  Education 
  establishes 
  accountability 
  targets, 
  
called 
  Annual 
  Measureable 
  Objectives 
  (AMOs), 
  which 
  requires 
  each 
  high 
  school 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  95% 
  
participation 
  rate 
  on 
  EOC 
  exams. 
   
   
  
With 
  a 
  2015 
  graduating 
  class 
  of 
  4,221 
  students, 
  they 
  should 
  have 
  collectively 
  taken 
  16,884 
  
exams 
  with 
  AMOs 
  over 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  their 
  high 
  school 
  careers. 
  Of 
  those 
  16,884 
  exams, 
  the 
  
district 
  lacks 
  a 
  test 
  record 
  for 
  only 
  231 
  or 
  1.37%. 
  These 
  cases 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  spread 
  out 
  and 
  not 
  

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  2 
  of 
  5 
  
 
  

unusually 
  high 
  for 
  any 
  particular 
  school. 
  All 
  high 
  schools 
  fall 
  within 
  the 
  1-­‐2% 
  range. 
  Given 
  an 
  
average 
  daily 
  attendance 
  rate 
  of 
  93%, 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  students 
  that 
  never 
  make 
  up 
  an 
  EOC. 
  There 
  
may 
  also 
  be 
  some 
  who 
  took 
  the 
  EOC 
  at 
  another 
  time 
  outside 
  of 
  MNPS 
  or 
  whose 
  student 
  ID 
  was 
  
incorrectly 
  coded 
  on 
  an 
  EOC 
  answer 
  sheet 
  and 
  who 
  do 
  not 
  match 
  our 
  course 
  enrollment 
  files. 
   
  
The 
  231 
  missed 
  EOC 
  exams 
  are 
  broken 
  down 
  as 
  follows: 
  There 
  were 
  44 
  students 
  missing 
  an 
  
Algebra 
  I 
  EOC 
  test 
  record 
  and 
  10 
  students 
  marked 
  absent. 
  An 
  answer 
  sheet 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  
turned 
  in 
  for 
  every 
  student 
  enrolled 
  in 
  the 
  course, 
  and 
  those 
  that 
  do 
  not 
  test 
  or 
  make 
  up 
  the 
  
test 
  should 
  be 
  coded 
  as 
  absent. 
  It 
  is 
  likely 
  that 
  many, 
  if 
  not 
  most, 
  of 
  those 
  students 
  missing 
  an 
  
EOC 
  document 
  were 
  absent 
  during 
  testing 
  and 
  an 
  answer 
  sheet 
  marked 
  “absent” 
  was 
  not 
  
submitted. 
  There 
  were 
  32 
  missing 
  an 
  Algebra 
  II 
  EOC 
  and 
  32 
  more 
  marked 
  absent. 
  For 
  English 
  
II, 
  26 
  had 
  no 
  test 
  record 
  and 
  16 
  were 
  shown 
  as 
  absent. 
  There 
  were 
  35 
  missing 
  for 
  English 
  III 
  
and 
  36 
  absent. 
   
  
If 
  NewsChannel 
  5 
  is 
  in 
  possession 
  of 
  documentation 
  that 
  contradicts 
  the 
  district’s 
  findings 
  of 
  its 
  
own 
  internal 
  review 
  described 
  above, 
  Metro 
  Schools 
  requests 
  to 
  be 
  given 
  access 
  to 
  the 
  
documentation 
  immediately 
  to 
  allow 
  us 
  to 
  thoroughly 
  investigate 
  the 
  claims. 
  Likewise, 
  if 
  
former 
  or 
  current 
  MNPS 
  employees 
  are 
  in 
  possession 
  of 
  documentation 
  that 
  indicates 
  a 
  
systematic 
  attempt 
  to 
  inflate 
  performance 
  data 
  for 
  individual 
  schools, 
  those 
  individuals 
  are 
  
urged 
  to 
  bring 
  their 
  concerns 
  forward 
  to 
  district 
  leadership 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  properly 
  
investigated. 
  We 
  have 
  no 
  record 
  of 
  an 
  open 
  complaint 
  of 
  this 
  nature. 
   
  
Use 
  of 
  Credit 
  Recovery 
  in 
  High 
  Schools 
  
Metro 
  Nashville 
  Public 
  Schools 
  has 
  made 
  personalized 
  learning 
  the 
  focus 
  of 
  our 
  instructional 
  
practice. 
  Our 
  goal 
  is 
  to 
  prepare 
  every 
  student 
  for 
  success 
  in 
  college 
  and 
  career, 
  which 
  
personalized 
  learning 
  allows 
  us 
  to 
  do. 
   
  Personalized 
  learning 
  involves 
  teachers 
  meeting 
  
students 
  where 
  they 
  are, 
  regularly 
  monitoring 
  their 
  progress, 
  and 
  moving 
  students 
  forward 
  
only 
  when 
  they’re 
  able 
  to 
  demonstrate 
  mastery 
  of 
  the 
  content. 
  This 
  includes 
  intervening 
  as 
  
early 
  as 
  possible 
  when 
  a 
  student’s 
  performance 
  indicates 
  he 
  or 
  she 
  is 
  failing 
  to 
  master 
  the 
  
content 
  of 
  a 
  course. 
   
  
As 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  approach, 
  credit 
  recovery 
  is 
  offered 
  to 
  high 
  school 
  students 
  who 
  fail 
  a 
  semester 
  
of 
  a 
  course. 
  If 
  a 
  student 
  fails 
  a 
  course 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  to 
  the 
  degree 
  that 
  grade-­‐averaging 
  the 
  two 
  
semesters 
  is 
  unlikely 
  to 
  result 
  in 
  the 
  student 
  passing 
  the 
  course 
  as 
  a 
  whole, 
  the 
  student 
  is 
  given 
  
the 
  option 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  fall 
  course 
  through 
  credit 
  recovery 
  before 
  proceeding 
  to 
  the 
  spring 
  
course. 
  For 
  example, 
  a 
  student 
  who 
  fails 
  “Algebra 
  I 
  Fall” 
  will 
  be 
  given 
  the 
  option 
  to 
  retake 
  the 
  
fall 
  course 
  of 
  Algebra 
  I 
  during 
  the 
  spring 
  semester. 
  The 
  student 
  will 
  then 
  take 
  “Algebra 
  I 
  
Spring” 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  semester 
  or 
  subsequent 
  fall 
  semester. 
  All 
  attempts 
  are 
  made 
  to 
  
place 
  the 
  student 
  in 
  “Algebra 
  1 
  Spring” 
  during 
  the 
  following 
  summer 
  or 
  fall. 
  If 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  
scheduling 
  conflict, 
  the 
  student 
  may 
  have 
  to 
  wait 
  to 
  the 
  following 
  spring 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  spring 
  
course.
It 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  best 
  interest 
  of 
  the 
  student 
  to 
  take 
  this 
  approach 
  because 
  if 
  he 
  or 
  she 
  has 
  not 
  
mastered 
  the 
  content 
  of 
  a 
  fall 
  course, 
  he 
  or 
  she 
  will 
  be 
  ill-­‐prepared 
  to 
  succeed 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  
course, 
  which 
  builds 
  on 
  the 
  content 
  knowledge 
  from 
  the 
  fall. 
   
  The 
  decision 
  to 
  enter 
  into 
  credit 
  

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  3 
  of 
  5 
  
 
  

recovery 
  is 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  student 
  and 
  his 
  or 
  her 
  parent/guardian 
  in 
  consultation 
  with 
  the 
  
teacher 
  and 
  the 
  student’s 
  counselor. 
  
If 
  a 
  student 
  takes 
  a 
  spring 
  course 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  fall 
  semester, 
  he 
  or 
  she 
  will 
  take 
  
the 
  EOC 
  at 
  that 
  time. 
  Meaning 
  a 
  student 
  who 
  fails 
  Algebra 
  I 
  this 
  fall 
  may 
  take 
  the 
  Algebra 
  I 
  
EOC 
  in 
  July 
  or 
  December 
  of 
  2016, 
  depending 
  on 
  when 
  he 
  or 
  she 
  completes 
  both 
  courses. 
   
  
The 
  opinion 
  that 
  this 
  approach 
  to 
  instruction 
  in 
  intended 
  solely 
  to 
  inflate 
  EOC 
  scores 
  is 
  
misguided. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  standard 
  practice 
  used 
  by 
  school 
  districts 
  in 
  our 
  state. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  
state’s 
  testing 
  calendar 
  allows 
  for 
  EOCs 
  to 
  be 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  summer 
  is 
  evidence 
  that 
  
this 
  practice 
  is 
  supported 
  by 
  the 
  state. 
  The 
  state 
  does 
  not 
  use 
  EOCs 
  to 
  measure 
  the 
  academic 
  
performance 
  of 
  a 
  specific 
  grade 
  level. 
  Unlike 
  grades 
  K 
  through 
  8, 
  high 
  school 
  courses 
  are 
  
offered 
  to 
  students 
  based 
  on 
  their 
  individual 
  academic 
  level. 
  For 
  example, 
  an 
  advanced 
  student 
  
may 
  take 
  Algebra 
  I 
  in 
  eighth 
  grade 
  instead 
  of 
  ninth 
  grade, 
  in 
  which 
  case 
  the 
  EOC 
  score 
  is 
  
calculated 
  into 
  the 
  middle 
  school’s 
  math 
  data, 
  rather 
  than 
  the 
  high 
  school 
  the 
  student 
  goes 
  on 
  
to 
  attend. 
  Similarly, 
  students 
  who 
  take 
  AP 
  classes 
  do 
  not 
  take 
  EOC 
  exams 
  for 
  those 
  subjects, 
  
therefore 
  their 
  academic 
  performance 
  is 
  not 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  high 
  school’s 
  overall 
  EOC 
  data. 
  EOC 
  
data 
  is 
  intended 
  to 
  reflect 
  the 
  high 
  school’s 
  ability 
  to 
  successfully 
  teach 
  the 
  state 
  standards 
  in 
  
main 
  subject 
  areas, 
  regardless 
  of 
  when 
  the 
  student 
  takes 
  the 
  course 
  during 
  his 
  or 
  her 
  time 
  in 
  
high 
  school. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  clear 
  disincentive 
  for 
  high 
  schools 
  to 
  unnecessarily 
  delay 
  a 
  student’s 
  
promotion 
  among 
  courses 
  since 
  the 
  state 
  calculates 
  a 
  high 
  school’s 
  graduation 
  rate 
  based 
  on 
  
“on-­‐time” 
  graduates, 
  defined 
  as 
  students 
  who 
  graduate 
  within 
  four 
  years 
  and 
  one 
  summer 
  of 
  
starting 
  high 
  school. 
  Because 
  all 
  students 
  are 
  required 
  to 
  earn 
  four 
  math 
  credits 
  and 
  four 
  
English 
  credits, 
  when 
  they 
  are 
  delayed 
  from 
  completing 
  one 
  of 
  those 
  required 
  credits 
  it 
  risks 
  
requiring 
  the 
  student 
  to 
  take 
  more 
  than 
  four 
  years 
  to 
  graduate. 
  
Most 
  importantly, 
  our 
  focus 
  is 
  on 
  helping 
  students 
  succeed. 
  Ultimately, 
  our 
  goal 
  is 
  to 
  prepare 
  
every 
  student 
  for 
  college 
  and 
  career. 
  If 
  a 
  student 
  requires 
  extra 
  time 
  to 
  successfully 
  master 
  
the 
  content 
  of 
  a 
  course, 
  we 
  believe 
  the 
  student 
  should 
  be 
  allowed 
  that 
  time. 
  Forcing 
  
students 
  to 
  progress 
  in 
  course 
  schedules 
  when 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  prepared 
  to 
  understand 
  or 
  
master 
  the 
  content 
  would 
  equate 
  to 
  setting 
  our 
  students 
  up 
  for 
  failure. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
Use 
  of 
  Content 
  Recovery 
  in 
  High 
  Schools 
  
In 
  addition 
  to 
  “credit 
  recovery,” 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  student 
  re-­‐taking 
  a 
  failed 
  semester 
  of 
  a 
  course, 
  
Metro 
  Schools 
  also 
  offers 
  “content 
  recovery” 
  courses 
  to 
  support 
  students 
  who 
  are 
  struggling 
  
with 
  the 
  foundational 
  skills 
  needed 
  to 
  succeed 
  in 
  an 
  EOC 
  course. 
   
  
For 
  example, 
  the 
  district 
  offers 
  “Algebra 
  I 
  A,” 
  a 
  content 
  recovery 
  course 
  to 
  support 
  students 
  
enrolled 
  in 
  Algebra 
  I. 
  The 
  Algebra 
  I 
  A 
  course 
  may 
  cover 
  basic 
  math 
  skills, 
  such 
  as 
  fractions, 
  
based 
  on 
  what 
  underlining 
  knowledge 
  is 
  needed 
  for 
  a 
  student 
  to 
  understand 
  the 
  Algebra 
  
lessons. 
  Similar 
  classes 
  are 
  offered 
  for 
  English 
  courses, 
  and 
  are 
  listed 
  as 
  “English 
  I 
  CAR,” 
  with 
  
“CAR” 
  standing 
  for 
  Content 
  Area 
  Reading. 
   
  
It 
  is 
  district 
  practice 
  for 
  students 
  to 
  be 
  enrolled 
  in 
  content 
  recovery 
  courses 
  either 
  
simultaneously 
  or 
  prior 
  to 
  taking 
  an 
  EOC 
  course. 
  A 
  content 
  recovery 
  course 
  cannot 
  be 
  taken 
  in 
  
place 
  of 
  an 
  EOC 
  course. 
  Although 
  students 
  do 
  earn 
  credits 
  for 
  content 
  recovery 
  courses, 
  the 
  

 Page 
  4 
  of 
  5 
  
 
  

credits 
  do 
  not 
  qualify 
  for 
  the 
  math 
  or 
  English 
  credits 
  required 
  for 
  graduation. 
  Additionally, 
  
enrollment 
  in 
  a 
  content 
  recovery 
  course 
  does 
  not 
  negate 
  a 
  student’s 
  requirement 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  
EOC 
  exam 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  semester 
  of 
  the 
  EOC 
  course. 
   
  

 
  

 
  

Pearl-­‐Cohn 
  Entertainment 
  Magnet 
  High 
  School 
  
 
  
•
You 
  claim: 
  
o
Pearl-­‐Cohn 
  has 
  removed 
  students 
  from 
  EOC 
  exam 
  classes 
  and 
  placed 
  
them 
  in 
  independent 
  study 
  courses 
  as 
  a 
  means 
  of 
  avoiding 
  their 
  scores 
  
from 
  affecting 
  the 
  school’s 
  overall 
  EOC 
  score. 
  You 
  intimate 
  in 
  an 
  email 
  to 
  
Principal 
  Sonia 
  Stewart 
  that 
  direction 
  for 
  this 
  practice 
  is 
  coming 
  from 
  
supervision 
  in 
  the 
  district 
  office. 
  
•
We 
  responded: 
   
  
o
Verbally 
  on 
  the 
  phone 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  Oct. 
  26 
  explaining 
  the 
  district’s 
  
practice 
  of 
  remediation 
  with 
  students 
  who 
  are 
  failing 
  EOC 
  classes. 
  
Further 
  detail 
  and 
  explanation 
  is 
  provided 
  above 
  in 
  the 
  statements 
  on 
  
credit 
  recovery 
  and 
  content 
  recovery. 
  
•
You 
  asked 
  for: 
  
o
All 
  course 
  offerings 
  for 
  Fall 
  2015 
  and 
  number 
  of 
  students 
  enrolled 
  in 
  
each 
  class 
  
•
We 
  fulfilled 
  this 
  request 
  on 
  Friday, 
  Oct. 
  30, 
  2015 
  
Stratford 
  STEM 
  Magnet 
  School 
  
 
  
•
You 
  claim: 
  
o
Students 
  being 
  “physically 
  pulled” 
  from 
  EOC 
  exam 
  rooms 
  or 
  barred 
  from 
  
entering 
  EOC 
  exam 
  rooms. 
  
•
We 
  responded: 
  
o
Verbally 
  on 
  the 
  phone 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  Oct. 
  26 
  explaining 
  Stratford’s 
  EOC 
  
participation 
  rate 
  is 
  consistently 
  95% 
  or 
  above 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  two 
  years. 
  The 
  
data 
  is 
  as 
  follows: 
   
  
§ Algebra 
  I 
  – 
  100% 
  in 
  2014 
  and 
  97% 
  in 
  2015 
  
§ Algebra 
  II 
  – 
  95% 
  in 
  2014 
  and 
  96% 
  in 
  2015 
  
§ English 
  II 
  – 
  98% 
  in 
  2014 
  and 
  98% 
  in 
  2015 
  
§ English 
  III 
  – 
  96% 
  in 
  2014 
  and 
  95% 
  in 
  2015 
  
o
We 
  further 
  explained 
  that 
  given 
  the 
  AMOs 
  of 
  95% 
  participation 
  and 
  
average 
  daily 
  attendance 
  of 
  93%, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  incentive 
  for 
  principals 
  to 
  
withhold 
  students 
  from 
  EOC 
  exams, 
  lest 
  they 
  risk 
  failing 
  to 
  meet 
  the 
  
AMO. 
  
•
You 
  asked 
  for: 
   
  
o All 
  course 
  offerings 
  for 
  Fall 
  2015 
  and 
  number 
  of 
  students 
  enrolled 
  in 
  
each 
  class 
  
•
We 
  fulfilled 
  this 
  request 
  on 
  Friday, 
  Oct. 
  30, 
  2015. 
  
Hunters 
  Lane 
  High 
  School 
  
 
  
•
You 
  claim: 
  
o
Hunters 
  Lane 
  has 
  removed 
  students 
  from 
  EOC 
  exam 
  classes 
  and 
  placed 
  
them 
  in 
  elective 
  courses 
  as 
  a 
  means 
  of 
  avoiding 
  their 
  scores 
  from 
  
affecting 
  the 
  school’s 
  overall 
  EOC 
  score. 
   
  

 Page 
  5 
  of 
  5 
  
 
  

•

•

•
•

•

We 
  responded: 
   
  
o
Verbally 
  on 
  the 
  phone 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  Oct. 
  26 
  explaining 
  the 
  district’s 
  
practice 
  of 
  remediation 
  with 
  students 
  who 
  are 
  failing 
  EOC 
  classes. 
  
Further 
  detail 
  and 
  explanation 
  is 
  provided 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  statements 
  on 
  
credit 
  recovery 
  and 
  content 
  recovery. 
  
You 
  asked 
  for: 
  
o
All 
  course 
  offerings 
  for 
  Fall 
  2015 
  and 
  number 
  of 
  students 
  enrolled 
  in 
  
each 
  class 
  
We 
  fulfilled 
  this 
  request 
  on 
  Oct. 
  30, 
  2015. 
  
On 
  Oct. 
  29, 
  you 
  asked 
  for: 
  
o
Insight 
  into 
  the 
  situation 
  of 
  a 
  specific 
  Hunters 
  Lane 
  student 
  who 
  was 
  
allegedly 
  removed 
  from 
  EOC 
  courses 
  she 
  was 
  passing. 
  
Our 
  response: 
   
  
o We 
  are 
  still 
  investigating 
  the 
  details 
  of 
  this 
  student, 
  including 
  a 
  close 
  look 
  
at 
  the 
  student’s 
  data. 
  However, 
  there 
  are 
  extenuating 
  circumstances 
  
surrounding 
  this 
  particular 
  student, 
  which 
  are 
  part 
  of 
  her 
  private 
  record 
  
and 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  discussed 
  with 
  you 
  without 
  a 
  written 
  waiver 
  from 
  the 
  
parent/guardian. 
  

 
  
Maplewood 
  High 
  School 
  
 
  
•
You 
  claim: 
  
o Without 
  knowing 
  the 
  specific 
  mechanism 
  being 
  used, 
  that 
  students 
  are 
  
being 
  either 
  pulled 
  from 
  EOC 
  classes 
  or 
  prevented 
  from 
  taking 
  EOC 
  
exams. 
   
  
•
We 
  responded: 
   
  
o Verbally 
  on 
  the 
  phone 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  Oct. 
  26 
  explaining 
  the 
  district’s 
  
practice 
  of 
  remediation 
  with 
  students 
  who 
  are 
  failing 
  EOC 
  classes. 
  
Further 
  detail 
  and 
  explanation 
  is 
  provided 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  statements 
  on 
  
credit 
  recovery 
  and 
  content 
  recovery. 
  
•
You 
  claim: 
  
o A 
  source 
  reported 
  to 
  you 
  seeing 
  an 
  email 
  from 
  Jay 
  Steele 
  giving 
  direction 
  
in 
  this 
  practice. 
  
•
We 
  responded: 
  
o Verbally 
  on 
  the 
  phone 
  the 
  week 
  of 
  Oct. 
  26 
  that 
  no 
  such 
  email 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  
exist, 
  but 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  confused 
  with 
  an 
  email 
  sent 
  by 
  Aimee 
  
Wyatt 
  on 
  Feb. 
  11, 
  2014, 
  to 
  high 
  school 
  principals 
  giving 
  guidance 
  on 
  how 
  
to 
  use 
  credit 
  recovery 
  for 
  course 
  remediation. 
  You 
  were 
  provided 
  a 
  copy 
  
of 
  this 
  email. 
  
•
You 
  asked 
  for: 
  
o All 
  course 
  offerings 
  for 
  Fall 
  2015 
  and 
  number 
  of 
  students 
  enrolled 
  in 
  
each 
  class 
  
•
We 
  fulfilled 
  this 
  request 
  on 
  Oct. 
  30, 
  2015. 
   
  
 
  
### 
  
 
  

 To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

November 3, 2015

Re:

Credit Recovery and Independent Study Courses at Pearl Cohn High School

As explained in our statement yesterday, district policy allows a student to take "credit recovery"
after failing a semester of a course and this practice is supported by the Tennessee Department of
Education. The story you aired last night makes claims that students are being placed in credit
recovery without having failed the course first, although after repeated requests you have not
shared the documentation with us that has led you to this conclusion.
Also, you have asked for an analysis of an increase in the number of students enrolled in
"independent study" courses between the fall and spring semesters at Pearl Cohn High School
during the 2014-15 school year. Based on your previous reporting, we are making the assumption
that your story tonight will draw a conclusion that the students enrolled in independent study
courses at Pearl Cohn last spring were improperly placed in credit recovery.
Here are the facts you should know:
?

?
?
?

Independent study can be used for credit recovery, but it may also be used for a variety of
other benefits to the student, such as dual enrollment Nashville State courses online, online
ACT prep or other virtual classes.
At Pearl Cohn, 38 students were enrolled in independent study courses in the fall and an
additional 65 students were enrolled in the spring.
A sample review of the 65 additional students indicates that they were enrolled in
independent study to take credit recovery for a course they had failed in the fall.
We conducted a separate review of students who passed EOC courses at Pearl Cohn in the
fall of 2014. Of those, only three were not enrolled in the subsequent course in the spring.
These three cases are described as follows:
o A student who was taking courses while expelled from Pearl Cohn
o A student with special needs whose IEP dictated a change in course sequence
o A student who withdrew from the school and was not granted credit for any courses

Your story last night portrayed credit recovery as a program that forces students to get
"information on their own." This is not true. While the work is completed through online modules,
every credit recovery course is taught by a certificated teacher. Schools use tutors at their
discretion to provide additional support to the students. There are additional online resources used
to support the instruction and the students are allowed to go through the units at their own pace.
###

To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

November 5, 2015

Re:

Allegations made against Pearl Cohn High School

Based on our communication with you, we understand your story tonight to focus on three issues at
Pearl Cohn High School. Below are our responses to each:
1. Allegation: Pearl Cohn is using a "nothing below 60" grading policy, which is not in line with
the district's Grading for Learning policy that assigns a lowest possible grade of 50.
Response: This was first brought to the district's attention through your inquiry. The
administrative staff who supervise Pearl Cohn High School looked into this allegation and
confirmed the following: Pearl Cohn teachers assign grades of 50 to students who are absent for
and/or do not take final exams, as required by district policy. However, in other grading
practices, the school has been utilizing a balanced scale of 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 to reflect
student learning and communicate with them using a rubric aligned to these scores of below
basic, basic, proficient, advanced, and mastery.
While the intent of the principal in this case was to align grades with how well students are
mastering content, this practice is not reflective of district policy. The principal has
communicated with Pearl Cohn teachers that the school will be following district grading policy
going forward.
2. Allegation: Students who signed up to take an Advanced Placement exam at Pearl Cohn were
automatically given an "A" for their district exam grade in the course.
Response: This allegation was investigated, found to be true and has been corrected. However,
the district takes responsibility for not adequately communicating expectations related to
Advanced Placement exams to high school principals and for allowing practices that are not
reflective of district policy.
District policy states that "Final semester examinations are to be given in all 9-12 courses
during the regular school year. The Associate Superintendent of high schools or his/her
designee must approve exceptions to this rule." While there is no specific policy related to
Advanced Placement exams, the Leadership and Learning Department does allow for such an
exception so that students taking Advanced Placement exams can be exempt from any other
final exam for the course. This is done to incentivize students to take Advanced Placement
exams - which, if passed, provide them with college course credit before graduating high
school.

Page 2 of 2
However, these instructions have not been applied consistently, had proper follow up or been
written into official district policy.
The lack of district policy has created inconsistency in how the exemption is recorded on
students' records at different schools. At Pearl Cohn, the students were given an exam grade of
an "A" for having attempted the Advanced Placement exam. Instead, students who take an
Advanced Placement exam should receive an "E" for their exam grade (to connote exempt),
which allows for their two quarter grades to average into a final semester grade.
The principal at Pearl Cohn has been informed on how to handle Advanced Placement exam
grades going forward. To ensure consistent and proper application of this exception districtwide, the Advanced Placement exemption will be written into an official policy revision.
3. Allegation: In 2014, a rumor was reported to the district by other school staff that an
administrator at Pearl Cohn completed coursework for a student enrolled in A+, the district's
credit recovery program, and that the student earned credit for the course. In your reporting, a
source has relayed the same story and claims the situation was not thoroughly investigated by
the district at the time.
Response: This allegation was brought to the attention of the Pearl Cohn principal by a school
counselor at the time it first occurred. Evidence was presented to the principal in the form of
program records. The principal then spoke with the student, all staff involved and reviewed
records of the student's coursework. The student and the assistant principal explained to the
principal that the student was working on two separate courses in two separate rooms with
two separate faculty members within the same class period, which is possible and allowed in
the credit recovery program. The teacher in the other credit recovery course supported this
explanation, as did the program records reviewed by the principal.
Though there was no determination of actual wrongdoing, the administrator received a verbal
warning to always follow proper procedure in supervising credit recovery work and not be
overly involved in student coursework.
After this school-level investigation was completed, this situation was reported to high school
supervisors in the Leadership and Learning Department in the form of rumors circulating
among staff at other schools. Record of this report is included in an email exchange between
Aimee Wyatt and Michelle Wilcox on May 29, 2014. District staff spoke with the principal,
heard the allegations and a summary of the investigation.
In cases such as these, the school principal is allowed the authority to investigate and make
decisions at the school level. Essentially, the principal is the supervisor of school staff and
district leadership are the supervisors of the principal. In this particular case, it was determined
by high school supervisors that the principal acted properly and made the right decision in
resolving the allegations.
If anyone involved in a situation like this one feels that their principal has made a wrong
decision, we encourage them to elevate it to the district level. When allegations against a
principal are brought to his or her supervisors in district leadership, they are thoroughly
investigated. These allegations were not directly brought to the principal's supervisors but
rather reported only as rumor among staff at other schools.

To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

November 11, 2015

Re:

Grade change allegations at Hunters Lane High School

In response to your public records request, you have been provided with documentation related to
an internal investigation conducted in 2012 after a teacher employed at Hunters Lane at the time
filed a complaint with Human Resource Development (now called Human Capital) that she was
forced to change failing students' grades to passing grades.
The investigation was turned over to the department of Leadership and Learning because there
was no disciplinary action or termination being disputed. The matter was investigated specifically
by the lead principal of high schools, who was the direct supervisor for Hunters Lane at the time. In
April 2012, the investigation concluded that the school principal's actions did not violate existing
district policy.
Principals are responsible for supervising the entire school program, including effectiveness of
teachers. Grades should be an indication of student learning. If a high number of students are failing
a class that indicates students are not learning the material. Principals are expected to monitor
teachers' gradebooks and discuss their teaching and intervention practices if students are failing.
The Grading Procedures Policy (IM 4.144) in 2012 stated:
An administrative change in a teacher's grade shall not be made without prior consultation with the
teacher of record. The teacher may request that the decision of the principal or the results of the
consultation be reviewed by the appropriate Associate Superintendent or designee.
Policy IM 4.144 currently states:
The principal has the authority to modify a grade given by a teacher under his/her supervision only
when it has been determined that the grade was based upon inaccurate data or when he/she feels that
policy was not followed. An administrative change in a teacher's grade shall not be made without
prior consultation with the teacher of record. The teacher may request that the decision of the
principal or the results of the consultation be reviewed by the appropriate Associate Superintendent or
designee.
###

To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

January 8, 2016

Re:

Alexis Pearsall

Note: The following information is being provided to NewsChannel 5 because the parent of Alexis
Pearsall signed a FERPA release consent form and personally reviewed this statement to confirm that
the district is authorized to release protected information from her daughter's educational record
with Metro Schools.
A review of student records for Alexis Pearsall indicates that she was enrolled in Honors Biology for
the entire fall semester in 2014; however, her teacher resigned in September, forcing the entire
class of 22 students to be rescheduled to an honors class with another teacher.
When we reviewed the transcript to determine why the student re-took the fall semester in credit
recovery during the spring of 2015, we discovered this occurred in error. The teacher incorrectly
stated that the student had failed the fall semester when he submitted his failure list on Dec. 19,
2014. When the teacher entered final grades for the fall semester Alexis had, in fact, passed. This
clerical error resulted in the student unnecessarily re-taking the fall semester course through credit
recovery.
The student did not take the subsequent spring semester course because she had been incorrectly
counted as failing for the fall. Alexis is currently enrolled in the spring semester class to complete
her biology credit. The student will take the EOC this year when she completes the spring semester
course, as required by law.
Metro Schools and the staff at Hunters Lane sincerely regret the scheduling error that took place.
The principal and counselor extended this apology to the parent and student on Wednesday and
explained that she is still on track to graduate. Upon passing this semester, Alexis will have more
than half of her required credits completed, which is where she should be at the end of 10th grade.
The school has also improved their procedures to ensure that an error like this is not repeated in
the future.
###

To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

February 1, 2016

Re:

Grade promotion policy changes

During the 2009-10 school year, the district developed a progression plan for high school students that
required them to pass the grade-level appropriate English and math class in order to be promoted to the
next grade level. Previously, high school students were only required to earn a certain number of course
credits to be promoted. Under the progression plan, students were required to do both - earn a
minimum number of credits and pass English and math. As a result, 190 high school students were
reclassified from eleventh grade to tenth grade during that school year. Of those 190 students, 129 were
English Learners.
The large impact on English Learner students was due to the fact that EL students in high school will
often take an English Language Development (ELD) course in place of English I or English II. When the
district's progression plan was first developed, it did not recognize ELD courses as an English credit.
This progression plan was only in place for two years before revisions were made to address this issue.
ELD courses now count as an English credit under the district's progression plan and have for the last
four years. This allows English Learner students to follow a traditional progression through grades 9-12
and not be classified in lower grades despite earning an appropriate number of credits.
Since the decision to add "minimum-standard level" English and math as district criteria for grade level
promotion was made during the 2009-10 school year, the policy is not reflected in the Program of
Studies booklet in your possession for the 2009-10 school year. As you point out, the language about
course requirements for grade level promotion does not appear in writing until the fall of 2010. This
timing makes sense because the Program of Studies (now labeled progression plan) for high school
students is published at the start of each school year.
It's also worth noting that around this same time, the state changed on-time graduation from five years
to four years for EL students. This change required the district to assess its promotion criteria for EL
students who were previously on a five-year graduation plan, which is another reason why the parts of
the progression plan that relate to EL students evolve significantly over a couple of years.
That said, given that you are inquiring about something that occurred six years ago - and the individuals
who created the district's grade promotion policy at that time are no longer with the district - we are
not able to provide a full explanation of the reasoning behind this change in the grade promotion policy
being made mid school year.
While we can't fully speak to what occurred six years ago, what's most important is the policy that's in
place today: For the last four years, district policy has allowed EL students to follow a traditional
progression through grades 9-12 and not be classified in lower grades as a result of taking English
Language Development courses.
###

To:

Phil Williams, WTVF-TV, NewsChannel 5

From:

Communications Office, Metro Nashville Public Schools

Date:

May 9, 2016

Re:

Internal Review

Metro Schools stands by the process and findings of its Internal Review, specifically the conclusion that
there was no evidence of systemic "gamesmanship" where students were being moved out of classes to
avoid end-of-course (EOC) exams in order to inflate school performance data. This conclusion is based
on an extensive review of large volumes of data. The number of incidents identified where students
were moved out of courses was extremely small at most schools. Even at the school that had the most,
the numbers were not large enough to have a substantial impact on school-level academic performance
data, and certainly not district-level performance data.
Based on email records, the principal at Hunters Lane High School was given authorization by district
staff in 2010 to move nine failing students out of an Algebra course during the spring semester that year.
However, nothing in the email communication constitutes blanket permission for the principal to use
that as an intervention strategy going forward. Those involved in the Internal Review process as well as
the principal's supervisor did not find the emails from six years ago to be relevant to the situations from
the 2013-14 school year that were uncovered during the review process. As you know, as a result of the
Internal Review, we have revised the district's course re-take policy to give greater guidance to
principals, counselors and teachers on the best educational practices to help struggling students.
As for district policy changes in 2009 related to English Learner (EL) students, we explained to you in
detail the rationale behind those changes in a memo on Feb. 1. We stand by the explanation we provided
in February.
###