From Staff Reports

On Monday, Aug. 19, the State Department of Education announced the Reward Schools for the 2012-13 school year. Marshall County has three schools on the list: Cornersville Elementary School, Lewisburg Middle School, and Forrest High School. These schools were in the top 5 percent of schools in the state for having high student growth. Marshall County had more Reward Schools than any other school system in the South Central Region.

There are only 169 schools, from just 52 districts, on the list.

In addition, out of 136 school systems in Tennessee, Marshall County ranked 17th in the state in math for grades 3-8, 23rd in social studies, 47th in science, and 63rd in reading.

Marshall County was one of only 32 systems not cited for needing improvement in a sub-group area. Bedford County, for instance, needs improvement in four sub-groups: Hispanic, African-American, students with disabilities, and English Language Learners.

"We are thrilled with this progress and with these awards; however, we still have a lot of work to do to reach the achievement levels we want our students to attain," said Director of Schools Jackie Abernathy. "Our teachers system-wide have worked very hard while under a lot of pressure and with many changes this past year. I am very proud of them and their dedication to the children of Marshall County. I also want to thank Bill Byford and the South Central CORE office for offering Marshall County their expertise and support.

"Now it is time to move forward, use what we have learned this year, and provide this year's students with the best education possible. Next year, we want to be the No. 1 school system in the state!

"Congratulations to the teachers, students, staffs, and administrators of Marshall County's Reward Schools, Abernathy concluded. "They have worked extremely hard to reach this status."

"Tennessee continues to set the standard in education reform as we maintain our focus on high levels of achievement and continuous growth," said Gov. Bill Haslam said at an event held Monday to announce the Reward Schools list. "Our Reward Schools have proven that all students can learn and grow even though their starting lines may be different, a critical part of our effort to prepare our students for the jobs available in the marketplace now and in the future. We are incredibly grateful for the teachers and staff at each of these schools and excited to recognize their efforts on behalf of Tennessee students."

Tennessee has set out to become the fastest-improving educational system in the country by raising student performance each year. For the second year, the state has recognized Tennessee schools that have shown the most progress year-over-year alongside the schools with the highest achievement scores on statewide tests.

The 2012-13 Reward Schools made these impressive accomplishments during a year when Tennessee saw consistent gains on the statewide Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP. As schools across the state made improvements and reached higher levels of proficiency, the 169 Reward Schools led the way.

Because Tennessee's accountability system rewards growth and recognizes schools' varying baselines, every school in the state can strive for the Reward Schools designation.

"We believe that all students deserve strong schools where they can grow to high levels of achievement," Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said. "At the beginning of each year, every school in this state should know that they have a shot at becoming a Reward School."