Compendium of Research and Evaluation

  • The Department of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) is committed to providing accurate, objective, relevant, and timely evaluations of district initiatives to measure the return on our educational investments and to advance a student-centered, data-driven culture. The following report is based on program evaluation and analysis conducted by REA during the 2016-17 school year (SY1617). This is the first iteration of the Compendium of Research and Evaluation (CORE), which has been adapted from the previously published Educational Return on Investment (EROI) Report. The CORE is an opportunity for the Knox County Schools (KCS) to reflect on its practices, learn from its successes and shortcomings, and plan for the future. This compendium presents analysis of various district programs of the 2015-2016 school year (SY1516).

    The full compendium is available here. 

    Every program evaluated in the CORE is related to the goal of the Knox County Schools Strategic Plan, Excellence for Every Child. The initiatives included in the 2017 CORE are as follows:

    • The implementation in the district's middle schools of the Response to Instruction and Intervention program under the framework provided by the state
    • District efforts to ensure equal access to highly effective teachers
    • The implementation of the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support system, the behavioral component to improve student academic outcomes, in certain school across the district
    • The implementation and expansion of the Community Schools initiative in collaboration with the Great Schools Partnership
    • After-school tutoring services offered at the district's community schools
    • The continuation of Knox County's summer school program for elementary and middle schools to prevent summer learning loss
    • A methodology change to the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), due in large part to input from the REA Department of Knox County Schools
    • The implementation of an Innovation Zone (iZone) in Knox County's four priority schools
    • Findings from TDOE's annual Tennessee Educator Survey, which gathers perception data on topics such as school climate, evaluation, and discipline

    The compendium includes management reports, which provide summary information about the programs, investment analyses, major findings, and recommendations. Technical reports for some evaluations, with details on methodology, statistical tests, and comprehensive survey results, are available under the "Technical Reports" heading on the right-hand side of this page.