Correction: The Post mistakenly reported Murfreesboro City Schools received B's and C's in achievement on the Tennessee Report Card, when in fact the system received all B's. The Post regrets this error. The corrected portion has been highlighted.

Tennenssee’s Department of Education released its annual state report card on schools Friday morning and while Rutherford County Schools meet the tougher guidelines, Murfreesboro City Schools fell short in improvement over last year.

“Ultimately, the more rigorous standards will better prepare our students for life after high school and so we welcome the changes, even if it means more challenges for us now,” RCS Director of Schools Harry Gill said. “We’ve done well on the report but there are areas that need improving. We are exploring ways to give additional time and support to those students who need them to be successful.”

Even with the more rigorous curriculum and graduation requirements the Tennessee Diploma Project calls for, RCS faired well. But Murfreesboro City Schools wasn’t as lucky.

As a district, Rutherford County Schools’ status is considered “Good Standing” for meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

In achievement, Rutherford County Schools received A’s for Math, Reading/Language Arts and Social Studies. The district received a B for achievement in science. The district received all A’s in writing for the grades that are tested, which include third, eighth and 11th grades.

Oakland High School met the requirements for graduation rate, which was 91 percent (2009), up from 85.7 percent in 2008.

The report also shows all K-5 and Title I schools met all academic benchmarks established by the federal and state levels.

Rock Springs Middle School in Smyrna has been classified as “School Improvement I” for not meeting the academic requirements in math for one subgroup of students — Students with Disabilities — for two consecutive years.

Central Middle School did not meet all academic standards. However, Central Middle School no longer exists in its previous form because the school was converted to a magnet school beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. As such, the scores on the Report Card are no longer applicable.

For Value-Added, Rutherford County Schools scored a B in Social Studies and C’s in Math, Reading/Language Arts and Science. Value-Added is an assessment system the state uses to measure learning gains for students based on previous years.

Murfreesboro City Schools

The new standards and toughened tests hit Murfreesboro City Schools much harder than the county system. While RCS is in good standing, MCS needs improvement in some key areas.

While RCS posted on the honor roll, city schools notched all B’, holding steady from previos years.

MCS received all B’s in achievement in math, reading and science.

“With the change in the educational landscape in Tennessee and nationwide, a ‘status quo’ approach to student learning will not suffice,” MCS Director Dr. Linda Gilbert said.

Since Gilbert took office in December 2009, the school system has placed more emphasis on student learning, she said.

“Because of that, we are presently engaged in Professional Learning Communities, are data-driven, are results oriented, and are focused on the whole child to improve student learning,” she added.

The system slipped more in the value-added (or improvement from the previous year) category, receiving a D in math, C’s in social studies and science, and a B in social studies.

According to the data released Friday, MCS now has three schools – Black Fox Elementary, Mitchell-Neilson Elementary and Mitchell-Neilson Primary – in target status and one school – Bradley Academy that fell to School Improvement I based on No Child Left Behind.

NCLB requires schools meet the goals of 100 percent of students testing proficient in reading/language arts and math and a 100 percent graduation rate by 2014.

According to Tennessee Department of Education, schools that miss any benchmark in one year are given “target status” and move to “school improvement” status if benchmarks are not met in subsequent years.

According to the 2010 Report Card, Black Fox and the Mitchell-Neilsons failed to meet proficiency levels in math for African-American students.

Overall the Black Fox received C’s and B’s in achievement, but fell short in value-added receiving an F in math, a D in reading, C in science and an A in social studies.

Mitchell-Neilson didn’t fare as badly posting a B in social studies and C’s in math reading and science.

Where the schools failed was in improvement over last year, receiving value-added scores of D’s in math and reading, a C in social studies, and an F in science.