By JAMES EVANS
Rutherford County Schools

Rutherford County Schools continues to perform among the best school districts in Tennessee, based on results released today by the Tennessee Department of Education as part of the state's annual Report Card.

For the second time in five years, Rutherford County Schools has been named an "Exemplary" district, which is the highest designation given by the Tennessee Department of Education. The district also had nine schools named as "Reward" schools for placing in the top five percent in the state for either performance or progress.

"As a state designated Exemplary School District with nine Reward Schools, the Report Card helps to confirm high levels of academic attainment within RCS," Director of Schools Don Odom said.

The annual Tennessee Report Card is a tool that can be used by school districts, schools and parents to evaluate school performance. The Department of Education releases some of the figures earlier in the school year before releasing the comprehensive report.

The report shows that Rutherford County Schools received all 5's for value-added learning gains. In addition, the results show the district has a graduation rate of 95.3% and a composite ACT average of 20.8.

"Value-added effect levels, represented by the highest level of '5' on the Tennessee Value Added Assessment System signifies that our teachers, administrators and staff are achieving academic gains exceeding more than one year of academic growth for each year of enrollment," Odom said.

The full report -- which contains specifics for Rutherford County Schools and all other districts in Tennessee -- is available online at https://www.tn.gov/education/data/report-card.html. Director Odom plans to present a full presentation on the Report Card results at an upcoming School Board meeting, which is open to the public and available for online viewing.