Benwood Initiative, Chattanooga, Tennessee

           When test score data were used to publish a ranking of all Tennessee schools in 2000, Chattanooga claimed the dubious honor of having nine of its schools listed among the twenty lowest-performing elementary schools in the state. This came as something of a surprise to the city’s residents. Why, many asked, does Chattanooga, instead of the larger, poorer cities of Memphis, Knoxville, or Nashville, dominate the list of Tennessee’s worst schools?
            That question launched what eventually became one of the more notable reform efforts in the country, one that has systematically addressed many of the obstacles faced by schools serving children of color and children of poverty.
            Those original “worst in the state” schools–since dubbed the “Benwood Schools” after a local foundation that stepped in with money–have all improved, some quite dramatically, and the school that was once the at the absolute bottom of the state was identified in 2005 as the fastest improving school in Tennessee.
            The story of those schools–and what the district and local foundations did to help them–offers insights that are valuable for educators across the nation.

Source: Hamilton County Department of Education analysis of CTB-McGraw Hill test data.