The Achievement School District (ASD) is a specialized public school district in Tennessee providing academic intervention in the lowest performing schools in Tennessee, with the goal of increasing student achievement in those schools. The ASD's assigned task is to move the bottom 5% of schools in Tennessee to the top 25% of schools in the state. The Achievement School District was created to cause "school turnaround," a term meaning rapid results in poorer-performing schools. The Achievement School District is modeled after the Louisiana Recovery School District and takes elements from Michigan's state-run district for failing schools as well.
History Tennessee received funding from the federal government to create the Achievement School District when it won Race to the Top, a United States Department of Education contest created to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K–12 education. The Achievement School District was created to improve student achievement in Tennessee's Priority Schools—those in the bottom 5% in the state—and in so doing, increasing students' career options and life outcomes. It is modeled from principles of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Obama's Race to the Top legislation. Various states submit their budget proposals in order to receive financial support. Schools in desperate need of change are labelled as priority schools. Those priority schools are added into this school district with the goal to be eventually released back into city and state school systems. They acquire staff from programs such as the Memphis Teacher Residency and Teach for America.
However, research published by Brown University in 2024 found that ASD did not significantly improve students' test scores nor high school graduation rates. In April 2025, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed legislature to replace ASD with a tiered intervention system starting in the 2026-27 school year. This decision was made to give local school districts more control over what intervention methods to utilize.
Leadership Malika Anderson was named the superintendent of the Achievement School District in November 2015 by the Tennessee Department of Education. She was preceded by Chris Barbic, who served in the role from 2011 to 2015. The district depends on charter management organizations (CMOs) in order to run and fund these charter schools. CMOs come from various sources such as the state, national organizations, and financial donors. The Achievement School District creates autonomy for these schools to launch the programs they need.
Schools The bottom 5% of Tennessee schools include 83 schools across Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. , there are 3 schools in the ASD: Hillcrest High School, Kirby Middle School, and Wooddale Middle School. They are all located in Memphis and operated by IOTA Community Schools.
Former schools Elementary schoolSchoolGrades servedSchool operatorLocationYear openedAspire Coleman ElementaryPK–6Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2014Aspire Hanley Elementary #1K–7Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2013Aspire Hanley Elementary #2PK–5Aspire Public SchoolsMemphis2013Cornerstone Prep – Denver CampusK–5Capstone Education GroupMemphis2015Cornerstone Prep – Lester CampusPK–5Capstone Education GroupMemphis2012Corning Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012Frayser Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012Georgian Hills Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2013KIPP Memphis Academy ElementaryK–2KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2013KIPP Memphis Preparatory ElementaryK–1KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2015Klondike Preparatory AcademyK–5Gestalt Community SchoolsMemphis2013Libertas School at BrookmeadePK–2Libertas School of MemphisMemphis2015Memphis Scholars Caldwell-GuthriePK–5Memphis ScholarsMemphis2016Memphis Scholars Florida-KansasK–5Memphis ScholarsMemphis2015Promise Academy-Spring HillPK–3Promise AcademyMemphis2013Whitney Achievement Elementary SchoolPK–5Achievement SchoolsMemphis2013 Middle schoolSchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear openedBrick Church College Prep5–8LEAD Public SchoolsNashville2012Humes Preparatory Academy6–8Gestalt Community SchoolsMemphis2012KIPP Memphis Preparatory Middle5–7KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2013KIPP Memphis University Middle6–7KIPP Memphis Collegiate SchoolsMemphis2014Lester Prep6–8Capstone Education GroupMemphis2014Memphis Scholars Raleigh-Egypt6–8Memphis ScholarsMemphis2016Neely's Bend College Prep5–6LEAD Public SchoolsNashville2015Westside Achievement Middle School6–8Achievement SchoolsMemphis2012 High schoolSchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear openedFairley High School9–12Green Dot Public SchoolsMemphis2014GRAD Academy Memphis9–12Project Grad USAMemphis2013Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory High School9–12Frayser Community SchoolsMemphis2014 AlternativeSchoolGradesSchool operatorLocationYear openedPathways in Education–Memphis in Frayser9–12Pathways in EducationMemphis2014Pathways in Education–Memphis in Whitehaven9–12Pathways in EducationMemphis2015
School operators
Achievement Schools Aspire Public Schools Capstone Education Group Frayser Community Schools Freedom Preparatory Academy Gestalt Community Schools Green Dot Public Schools KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools LEAD Public Schools Libertas School of Memphis Memphis Scholars Project GRAD Pathways in Education Promise Academy Rocketship Education
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