It is a Wednesday afternoon, and the sounds of music legends like Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & The MG's can be heard through the halls of the Soulsville Charter School.
Patrick Nolan, a seventh grader at Soulsville Charter School, said his grades have gotten much better since he came to the school in the sixth grade.
"It's exciting," the 12 year old said. "It keeps you out of trouble. It's setting a goal for you to go to college."
Soulsville Charter School consists of grades six and seven. The school, adding a grade each year, will eventually extend to the 12th grade. It is part of the growing alternative public education trend of charter schools.
Charter schools in Tennessee accept students who have tested below proficient in English, language arts or math on either the TCAP or the Tennessee Gateway Assessment, according to Charisse Sales, coordinator of charter schools for Memphis City Schools. Charter schools are public schools, and the Memphis Board of Education grants the charter to the group wanting to open the school.
"Each charter school has a separate governing board and sponsoring organization," said Stacey Thompson, coordinator of charter schools for Memphis City Schools. "Charter schools, by the law, have the right to ask for private donations and to seek grant funding (in addition to public funding.)"
Currently there are 10 charter schools in Memphis, and they all have different curricula to improve academic performance.
Soulsville Charter School incorporates music to encourage students to do their best in class, Principal David Hill said. All students play in the Soulsville Symphony Orchestra, which combines string instruments and a rhythm section, Hill said.
"When we have unique performance opportunities, students have to have earned the privilege to perform," Hill said. "This is usually based on behavior."
The students performed a Stevie Wonder medley for Wonder at the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Awards Public Forum, Hill said.
Stax musicians also come to the school to talk with the students, Hill said. Patrick, who plays the cello, said Isaac Hayes is his favorite Stax musician and math is his favorite subject.
"You can learn something new you might use in the world," Patrick said.
While music is important at the school, basic education is stressed more.
"We want them to get the education here that will be the foundation to achieve their goals," Hill said.
Dr. Steven Ross, University of Memphis professor and director of the Center for Research in Educational Policy, has been conducting a study on the effectiveness of charter schools.
Each student from a charter school is statistically matched with a traditional school student who has all or most of the same characteristics - gender, poverty status, grade level and prior Tennessee Gateway Assessment and TCAP scores, Ross said. When possible, the charter school student is matched with a student from the same school the charter school student had previously attended, Ross said. The most recent available results are from the spring of 2005.
"The results are positive," Ross said. "The trend is that kids who went to charter schools outperformed students who stayed in the (traditional) schools," Ross said.
"Our students have had significant gains in math and reading on the 2006 TCAP," Hill said.
The Center for Research in Educational Policy conducted another study that included an evaluation of the environment in the charter schools. According to the study, which included feedback from students, the schools were positive atmospheres overall.
Some students said their old schools focused too much on punishment.
"I used to get paddled, but teachers here give us a second chance or give us the bad grade we deserve," a student from Circles of Success Learning Academy said.
Students from Memphis Academy of Health Sciences said that even though their school days are longer, they know that the teachers are concerned about them doing well. Some students from the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences said teachers are different at their school because the teachers care and demand that children be respectful.
The traditional Memphis City Schools also have been taking measures to improve, and progress has been made under the No Child Left Behind Act, according to a report by the Tennessee Department of Education.
The district has reduced its number of schools on the high priority list for the third year in a row. There were 57 high priority schools in the 2005-2006 school year and 36 in the 2006-2007 school year. A school is considered high priority when it does not make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years.
To achieve adequate yearly progress, a school's population overall and each subgroup must have proficient scores on the TCAP and Gateway Assessment, according to Nita Hartley, Memphis City School accountability coordinator for No Child Left Behind. According to the report, the subgroups are Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, Asian or Pacific Islander, economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities and English language learners. All grades must meet the yearly attendance and test participation requirements, and high schools must satisfy graduation rate requirements, Hartley said.
According to the report, a school is in good standing if it makes adequate yearly progress. The number of schools in good standing increased from 103 in the 2005-2006 school year to 114 in the 2006-2007 school year.
Under No Child Left Behind, children who attend high priority schools have the option to be transferred to a school considered in good standing, Hartley said.
Schools which do not meet adequate yearly progress for three years must offer tutoring to students who receive reduced price lunches, Hartley said.
A.B. Hill Elementary School, now in good standing, has benefited from programs funded by No Child Left Behind and Memphis City Schools, according to Betsy Calvert, instructional facilitator for A.B. Hill Elementary.
"Many of our students when they come to us are lacking in basic vocabulary skills and literacy development," Calvert said.
All Memphis City Schools now participate in the intervention programs Voyager and Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Calvert said. DIBELS is for kindergarten and first grade, and Voyager is used for students in second grade through sixth grade. For about 30 minutes each day, teachers instruct about six to eight students who need extra help, while the other students practice concepts they have already learned, Calvert said.
"District wide there is a revitalized focus on literacy," Calvert said.
A.B. Hill Elementary and many other schools have before and after school tutoring. Along with the tutorial program, Grandview Heights Elementary School has a summer program to prepare kindergartners for success in first grade, said Vanessa Wakefield, instructional facilitator for the school. The tutoring programs, which are instructed by teachers, have increased test scores significantly, Wakefield said.
Idlewild Presbyterian Church gives volunteer support to public school Idlewild Elementary by tutoring students in every grade, said guidance counselor Lee Calhoun. Idlewild Elementary has been recognized as one of the top 10 schools in Tennessee, Calhoun said.
Newberry Elementary School, Ridgeway Elementary School, Delano Optional School and others have always been in good standing. Delano Optional was awarded the 2005 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School Award by the United States Department of Education. The award is given to schools that score in the top 10 percent on state assessments.
Snowden has also maintained its good standing status and owes much of its success to highly qualified teachers and leadership, according to Melissa Garrone, vice principal of Snowden. Catherine Battle, principal of Snowden, was recently awarded the 2007 Principal of the Year Award by the Tennessee Department of Education.
"Through her (Battle) leadership, she empowers everyone to be a leader," Garrone said.
And leadership is what Soulsville Charter School's Patrick Nolan aspires to.
"I want to be the first black president of the United States," Patrick said.
