Hamilton County learned last year that the highly touted iZone program – the one that poured millions of dollars over three years into each of the bottom 5 percent of schools in five Tennessee school districts – worked in several places, but not here.
Students in low-performing schools in Davidson, Knox, Jackson-Madison and Shelby counties were lifted by the services that the extra money paid for.
But not here.
Here, the percent of students scoring at or above proficient either decreased or remained stagnant in four of our five iZone schools: Brainerd High School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Orchard Knob Elementary and Woodmore Elementary. The fifth, Dalewood Middle School, saw slight improvements.
Were our students dumber? No.