Caroline Bauman, Chalkbeat Tennessee
Five questions with the Memphis pastor on a mission to raise awareness around childhood trauma
Longtime pastor and community activist Charlie Caswell knows there isn’t a silver bullet for improving the lives of students in poverty in Shelby County, but he firmly believes he’s come as close as possible to finding one.
For Caswell, a high school dropout from the...
More funding, stronger accountability, better engagement: Memphians give input on the Achievement School District
About 60 Memphians gathered in a Frayser gym Tuesday night for the first event on the State Department of Education’s six-stop listening tour to address what’s working in the Achievement School District and what needs improvement.
Lisa Settle, one of the district’s two interim superintendents,...
From creating “strong accountability” to ending the district, here’s what Tennesseans propose for the Achievement School District’s future
Ahead of what education officials say is a pivotal moment for state turnaround efforts, Chalkbeat asked Tennesseans to share ideas about the Achievement School District’s future. All but one respondent said the district should no longer exist in its current form.
“End the Achievement School...
Perfecting her craft: Why this Memphis educator couldn’t teach without support from her mom and former teachers
Two of Regina DeLoach’s former elementary school teachers still message her on Facebook to check on how she is doing.
DeLoach said her second- and third-grade educators inspired her to go into teaching, and she got to work alongside them before they retired. Now in...
Crosstown high students walk out of class to call for stronger diversity efforts, bolder innovation
More than 100 students at a Memphis high school left their classrooms Friday morning, walked around the giant Crosstown Concourse building, and read a letter to their administration calling for significant changes.
The letter outlines grievances, and possible solutions of students at Crosstown High School...
Shelby County Schools launches investigation into Southwest Early College High School as school leaders acknowledge ‘growing pains’
Shelby County Schools has launched an investigation into Southwest Early College High School, where school leaders are saying that after a difficult summer, the school is responding to parent concerns.
The school’s response comes less than a week after three Memphis high schoolers and two...
How a Memphis state-run school improved math scores 9 percentage points in one year
In the lobby of a Frayser elementary school, the first thing that greets parents, teachers, and students is a huge wall of testing data.
Six charts show how each classroom performed last year on school mathematics and reading tests. There’s a line across each image,...
As Tennessee gives its turnaround district a hard look, fates of other takeover districts show struggles aren’t unique
Tennessee’s achievement district came out of the gates strong in 2012 with support from national charter networks and state leadership.
Taking its cues from the successful turnaround of schools in New Orleans, Tennessee’s Achievement School District was a model for other districts, including in Nevada,...