Soulsville Charter Focuses
on Propelling Students
beyond Projections
Beating the odds. For building confidence and
identity, there’s nothing better. Just ask DeVonte
Collins.
Last year, DeVonte – currently a senior at 2015
SCORE Prize high school winner, The Soulsville
Charter School in Memphis – had only a 4
percent chance of scoring “proficient” on his endof-course exam (EOC) in Algebra II, according
to the prediction of Tennessee Value-Added
Assessment System (TVAAS) scores. His score,
after a year of very hard work? “Proficient.”
DeVonte says Assigned Mandatory Tutoring
(AMT) at Soulsville played a part in his success.
AMT gave him the chance to spend extra time
with the material and get to know his teacher in
a small-group setting. AMT was also a pivotal
experience for him the year before, when he was
a sophomore new to Soulsville and struggling to
find confidence in his English class.
“In class, I was getting into material, but I couldn’t
raise my hand like I wanted to,” DeVonte said.
AMT provided the one-on-one attention he
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needed. “I got the confidence to ask questions
and build relationships with teachers.”
To help students like DeVonte beat the odds,
Soulsville has adopted many innovative practices,
including excellent academic advising and
connections to real-world experiences outside
of school. Bryan Hearn, high school dean of
curriculum and Instruction, said these efforts add
up to a school that is always looking for new
ways to set students up for success.
“We’re succeeding in a lot of areas and we take
pride in that, but we’re not stopping,” Mr. Hearn
said. “Just looking at the data points won’t exactly
tell you the spirit of our faculty. We’re always
trying to get better. We’ve kind of all embodied
the spirit of having a growth mindset.”
The AMT program, in particular, has delivered
large, measurable gains for many students.
AMT was created in response to creative
thinking about the master schedule, according
to High School Director Ashley Shores. Four
years ago, the school day ran until 5 p.m. each