School board approves four-year contract for Superintendent Joris Ray
Ray was interim superintendent for about three months before the school board abandoned a national search and unanimously voted to give him the permanent position in late April.
Laura Faith Kebede
There are 166 articles by Laura Faith Kebede :
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June 2019
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Education
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July 2019
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Education Feds OK contract between charter school network, Catholic diocese
The federal guidance removes the final hurdle for Compass Community Schools to open its six campuses across Memphis on July 31 in former Catholic school buildings.
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Education A Memphis charter network leaves state district for local oversight
Freedom Preparatory Academy, a 10-year-old charter network, will move its Westwood neighborhood elementary school to Shelby County Schools oversight — rolling back the 2014 state takeover of the school.
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Education Group withdraws request to house migrant children in vacant Memphis school
Under a $3.7 million federal grant, the Georgia-based Baptiste Group had proposed operating a residential facility until 2025 at the former South Side Middle School, which until last summer housed a state-run charter school. But Baptiste withdrew its application after Chalkbeat started asking questions about the plan.
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Education Up to 3,000 Memphis high school students could get free city bus rides
Shelby County Schools leaders hope the bus passes will encourage students to participate in after-school activities, get jobs, post higher test scores and miss school less often.
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August 2019
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Education SCS board OKs new policy for Memphis charter schools
The policy gives the board the ability to deny a charter school application to open in a neighborhood with relatively few students; establishes a timeline for revoking a school’s charter if it shows poor academic results; and provides schools a chance to compete for free rent in district buildings.
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Education Four priorities will guide the Shelby County Schools board this year
On the literacy front, the district is adding teacher assistants in second grade and implementing a phonics curriculum this year to ramp up a plan to hold back students in second grade if they don’t meet certain reading benchmarks in the 2021-22 school year.
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Education Memphis principal gets new assignment after harassment, grade-changing probe
Terry Ross, who had served as principal at Kingsbury High School since 2014, was suspended with pay a year ago. He now will be an advisor with a new program for schools leaving the district’s most rigorous program for low-performing schools.
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Education Third-grade reading scores in Memphis dip as district builds case for retaining students
About 24% of third-graders in Shelby County Schools scored proficient in reading on the state’s standardized assessment TNReady, down from about 27% last year. Statewide, 36% of elementary students tested proficient.
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Education Teach For America hires SCS board member as chief of staff
Miska Clay Bibbs will remain on the Shelby County Schools board after taking the TFA job. Keith Williams, executive director of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, wrote in a text message that Bibbs should resign.
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Education Most test scores increase in Shelby County Schools, but reading results are down for youngest students
The district’s students did not make as much progress as other students across the state, earning Shelby County Schools the lowest score on the state’s 5-point growth scale.
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Education Memphis leaders create student grading rules that apply across the district
The new rules mean tests will account for 40% of a high school student’s grade, classwork 35%, projects 10%, homework 10%, and class participation 5%. And it will be the same whether it’s an algebra class in Whitehaven or a biology class in Frayser.
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Education Memphis teacher salary average dipped to 11th in the state
In 2014, teacher salaries in the Memphis district were sixth highest in the state, but three years later, teacher pay in Shelby County Schools has slipped to 11th. It was one of only two districts statewide to see the average salary decrease.
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September 2019
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Education State denies Memphis appeal to take Geeter K-8 off watchlist
Fewer than 5% of Geeter students scored proficient or higher in English this past spring on the state’s annual exam known as TNReady. In math, 6% of students scored proficient or higher.
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Education Fired secretary in grade-tampering scandal alleges lax rules in Memphis district
During her emotional, daylong testimony in her gender discrimination lawsuit against the district, Shirley Quinn described a system that did not encourage her to follow rules to prevent grade tampering.
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Education Memphis teachers will get a 3% raise, and some will get merit pay
Superintendent Joris Ray said the district’s promise to allocate a 3% pay increase to all teachers and licensed school professionals in the Memphis district will go into effect next month and be retroactive to the beginning of the school year.
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Education Shelby County Schools lay groundwork for new buildings strategy
Memphis residents will get a chance to “reimagine” what school buildings and academic programs will look like – and essentially rework a facilities plan left by the former superintendent.
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October 2019
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Education Two Memphis schools earn national honor for high performance
Campus School and Maxine Smith STEAM Academy were recognized for their high scores on state and national tests. They were among six schools in Tennessee to earn the Blue Ribbon award this year.
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Education Rejected charter school applicants appeal to the state
Five charter school applicants the Memphis school board denied two weeks ago for failing to meet new, tighter district standards on charter expansion have appealed the decisions to the state. neighborhoods are in need of better schools.
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Education Fired teacher sues Memphis charter school
Patricia Ange is seeking $350,000 in damages against Memphis Academy of Health Sciences High School, which enrolled about 400 students last year.
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Education SCS board members oppose hiring online teachers for high school math
Shelby County Schools had 126 classroom vacancies last week. District staff said remote teaching was a creative solution to fill the gap.
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Education SCS recommends closing Southwest Early College High for ‘egregious’ misconduct
The school district found that 60% of teachers at Southwest Early College High School do not have proper licensing for the classes they are teaching.
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Education Meet SCS Superintendent Joris Ray’s leadership team
Of the 10 cabinet members who remain from the previous administration, six received raises since the beginning of the calendar year — increases ranging from about 4% to 31%, according to district data. The other four did not receive raises.
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Education SCS superintendent names four to cabinet-level positions
Superintendent Joris Ray named four to top leadership posts for Shelby County Schools, leaving open the chief of schools position vacated by Sharon Griffin in 2018 when she became head of the state-run Achievement School District.
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Education SCS shows reading, math improvement on national test
The most significant jump in student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, was in eighth-grade math where the average score increased by about eight points.
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