posted by:
Mashburn, Noelle B - MNPS at Mar 07, 2011 12:53:00 PM
Roughly 13,000 of the MNPS's 78,000 students will change schools this school year. This high level of mobility, due in large part to family relocation, can have a significant impact on student achievement levels as it forces students to get accustomed to a new school, new teachers, and new classmates. It also can create difficulties for students if the new school is on a different learning pace than the first school attended. The district has adopted tier-level pacing guides to minimize the fluctuation in instruction, but each class must go at a pace that benefits the students.But guess what? Even if the family moves outside of the zone, the student does not have to switch schools mid-year. MNPS is proud to offer families a Continuity Option; i.e., the opportunity to stay at the current school even if you move out of zone. The continuity option can be used for the remainder of the school year, or even as long as it takes for a child to finish that tier.For example, if a 5th grader at JT Moore moves to Antioch, he or she can choose to finish the school year at JT Moore. The student can even choose to stay at JT Moore all the way through the 8th grade. In 9th grade, he or she would enroll at the school of zone, or utilize Open Enrollment or the annual magnet and optional school lottery. The issue of mobility is one that is often foreign to small rural school districts, but one that is very real to MNPS. Of the 13,000 students who will change schools this year, less than 1,800 will utilize the Continuity Option. To read more about mobility rates, the impact on student achievement, and ways MNPS is addressing the issue, check out today's article in the Tennessean, Nashville Schools Tackle Student Mobility.
