{
  "id": "1997-july-students-rank-schools",
  "slug": "1997-july-students-rank-schools",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-july-students-rank-schools.html",
  "year": 1997,
  "month": "July",
  "monthNum": 7,
  "headline": "Students rank schools",
  "kicker": "Class Project",
  "author_name": "Daniel J. Foley",
  "author_title": "Professor",
  "affiliation": "University of Tennessee, Knoxville",
  "summary": "A University of Tennessee journalism class partnered with the LaFollette Press newspaper to produce an eight-page special report on Campbell County schools using state education database analysis, resulting in a comprehensive 'report card' of the school district's performance across multiple metrics.",
  "keywords": [
    "journalism",
    "schools",
    "database"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Education",
    "Data & Databases",
    "Investigative Methods"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "Excel"
  ],
  "full_text": "A public affairs reporting class got some 'real world' publishing experience and a weekly newspaper got a special report it normally wouldn't be able to produce when the two combined on a database study of a Tennessee school system. The joint effort by the School of Journalism at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the 9,000-circulation LaFollette Press resulted in the May 29 publication of an eight-page special tabloid section on schools in Campbell County. The headlines on stories written by the 10 students in my senior-level journalism class convey the flavor of their 'report card' on the school district: 'Campbell schools, students rank among lowest in state' 'Absenteeism is highest in state' 'Test scores: Student trail statewide averages' 'Value added: Schools aren't making the grade' 'Schools get extra $$$ from state' ' But test scores, salaries low' 'Low scores may be linked to poverty' 'None of county's elementary schools accredited' 'Success in college? Scores say no' 'Success at work? It's same story' The students spent five weeks of a 15-week semester learning to use a spreadsheet, analyzing a database compiled by the Tennessee Department of Education, interviewing school officials and then writing, critiquing and rewriting their stories. The state's 21st Century Report Card database includes more than 300 columns of information on each of the state's 139 school districts on such topics as achievement test scores, local funding resources, state aid, per-pupil spending, average teacher salaries, demographics, attendance and accreditation. Similar data are available in many states, so the project methodology undoubtedly could be used elsewhere. The journalism students used Excel 5.0 on Macs to examine the database, but any good spreadsheet will work. The primary database skill used on this particular project was sorting and ranking school districts in various categories. One of the challenges was to identify which category would give the best overall assessment of the district. It is well-known that student achievement on standardized tests in any school district usually reflects the socioeconomic makeup of that district. Students who come from wealthy families with well-educated parents generally score higher than students who come from poor families with lesser-educated parents, regardless of the quality of the schools. Tennessee, like many other states, has implemented a program to measure school impact on student learning, apart from such socioeconomic factors. The 'value-added' assessment system, which was designed by a statistics professor at the University of Tennessee, measures each student's progress from year to year. Results of the value-added assessment have been interesting. In some school districts, students do well on achievement tests, but nevertheless don't make the expected progress from year to year. In other districts, test scores are comparatively low, but students nevertheless make better-than-average progress. One of the things UTK students tried to determine was which school districts do the best on both student achievement and school performance. Here is how they used the data to do the rankings: Student achievement: Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test scores are now available for seven grades (second through eighth) in five subjects - reading, language, mathematics, science and social science. Each districts' percentile scores for those 35 grade-subject areas were added and districts were then ranked from highest to lowest. Campbell County students ranked 107th of 134 districts. (Five districts were not included because they do not have all grades from second to eighth.) School performance: Value-added scores, based on student progress as a percentage of national norms, are now available in five subject areas. Each districts' five scores were added and districts were then ranked from highest to lowest. The Campbell County system ranked 119th. Overall ranking: Rankings for student achievement and school performance were then combined and districts were ranked based on the combined score. Campbell County ranked 124th. The district's poor showing on both student achievement and school performance and its even worse overall ranking provided a theme for the special section. Each student was assigned to evaluate data from a specific portion of the database and to determine how Campbell County did in each category. One student, for example, examined data on dropouts, absenteeism, suspensions, expulsions and promotions. Her key finding may help explain the district's low overall ranking: students in the upper grades in Campbell County had the highest rate of absenteeism in the state. The students used several benchmarks for purposes of comparison: The district's ranking among the 134 districts in the study. The district's score, percentage or number compared to the statewide average. The district's score, percentage or number compared to the national norm. The year-to-year trends within the district (three years of data were available for most categories). In order to avoid stories that were a mass of mind-numbing statistics, each student was instructed to pick and write about only two or three or four of the most revealing numbers. The class interviewed the school superintendent, the county executive and the president of the teacher's union to get their perspectives. Journalists with even modest skills in using spreadsheets could duplicate this project in any community where the state compiles similar information in database format. The project does, of course, involve a lengthy commitment of reporter time. Smaller papers with fewer resources may want to explore a cooperative effort with a college journalism class.",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "pre-v2",
    "extracted_at": "",
    "verified": true
  },
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      "slug": "1998-august-report-cards-revisal",
      "score": 0.29
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  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1997-july-students-rank-schools.html",
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}