Credit Recovery in Tennessee High Schools
The Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) has published a new report on credit recovery practices in Tennessee high schools. Credit recovery helps struggling high school students stay on course to graduate by earning credits for failed required courses. Offering these programs may help schools, districts, and states improve their graduation rates.
The report examines how credit recovery is administered in districts across the state, the number of students involved, the credit recovery vendors used by districts, and more. The research for the report included a survey of 116 school districts in Tennessee, interviews with staff in seven school districts, and observations of credit recovery classes in six high schools.
OREA’s report includes the following policy considerations and recommendations for state agencies, school districts, and schools:
1. The General Assembly may wish to require districts to collect and report data on credit recovery.
2. The Tennessee Department of Education should implement more detailed course catalog codes to produce more precise credit recovery data.
3. The State Board of Education and the Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission should review the state rule requiring districts to ensure credit recovery instructional materials align with state academic standards.
4. Districts should submit limited use waivers to the state for credit recovery courses if materials are not approved as instructional materials.
5. Districts and schools should implement credit recovery best practices.