What This Story Is About
- A former Stratford High School counselor, Constance Wade, alleges Metro Nashville Public Schools manipulated grades through a “credit recovery” testing process to boost graduation rates, prompting a state civil rights investigation.
Why It Matters
- The allegations suggest students, disproportionately students of color, may have received diplomas without demonstrating mastery of coursework, raising questions about the integrity of Metro Schools’ graduation numbers.
- The Tennessee Department of Education’s civil rights division will investigate Stratford High School and the district’s actions between 2022 and the end of last school year, with WSMV4 Investigates continuing to follow the case and report findings.
For Context
- This is the third former educator to make similar claims to WSMV4 Investigates, and it follows a 2019 incident in which then-principal Michael Steele was placed on leave amid a separate grade discrepancy investigation, as well as a comparable 2024 grade-fixing scandal in Anderson County, Tennessee.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – A third former educator has come forward to WSMV4 Investigates, claiming grade manipulation is happening in Metro Nashville Public Schools. It comes after WSMV4 Investigates first showed two former teachers at different schools who also claimed they were directed to change students’ grades to improve graduation numbers.
The Tennessee Department of Education’s civil rights division has launched an investigation into academic dishonesty at Stratford High School. It is the latest finding in the “Making the Grade” investigation.
The investigation was “immediately opened” by the state Department of Education into allegations of “academic dishonesty” and “misrepresentation” disproportionately affecting students of color. The allegations were made by Constance Wade, a former school counselor at Stratford High School…