An Actual Failure

The Tennessee Virtual Academy, run by K12, Inc. may be a virtual school, but in terms of student achievement, it is an actual failure.

I’ve written about TNVA before. Back in 2014, then-Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman recommended that the school be closed due to persistent low performance.

Now, legislation extending the state’s Virtual Schools Act — and therefore, the life of TNVA — has been filed.

While a number of districts operate effective, high-quality virtual schools, the program affiliated with Union County Schools and operated by K12, Inc. is not among them. Instead, the school is a persistent low-performer.

Let’s take a look at the State Report Card data for TNVA:

The overall success rate of the school is 27.9% — 12 points below the state average. This measures the number of students who are on-track or have mastered state standards. That’s actually a decline of more than 3% from last year.

TNVA also has seen declines of more than 5% in ELA and Science. The math score has declined by nearly 2% and sits at 14.% while the state average is 33%.

In terms of student academic growth, TNVA scores a 0.1 out of 4. Not quite a ZERO, but pretty damn close.

On the other hand, 13.4% of their students are “chronically out of school,” meaning they miss 10 percent or more of all school days. That’s an increase of more than 3% over last year.

Here’s the deal: TNVA hasn’t worked and isn’t working. It’s not entirely clear why TNVA hasn’t been made a “priority school” and subsequently taken over by the Achievement School District (ASD).

Commissioner Huffman got a lot wrong during his time in Tennessee, but even he knew TNVA wasn’t working. That was in 2014. Now, it’s 2019, and the school still isn’t working. Meanwhile, TNVA is clinging to life while K12, Inc. clings to Tennessee tax dollars. Should they get another four years?

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