The Nashville City Paper reports this morning on Metro Nashville Public Schools’ efforts to turn around three schools which, for three years, have failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind.

The story caught my eye due to one key factor — and one not mentioned in the City Paper story at all:

Teachers at Alex Green will be allowed to reapply for the school, but the school district has already reassigned current Amqui Elementary School principal Brenda Steele as the school’s new principal.

Because of a professional connection to the Education Consumers Foundation, the name Brenda Steele jumped out at me; she’s the principal who’s been honored two years in a row (this year and last) for producing the highest value-added achievement scores (TVAAS) of any elementary school in the middle-Tennessee region.  Actually, her value-added scores were the highest in the state.

In short, that means she leads a team of teachers who are producing significantly more advancement per year than average, not just smarter kids.  Given the right demographics, anyone can get lucky with a batch of high test scores.  Getting a less-advantaged population to make greater gains is a significant achievement.

It seems to me that MNPS’ decision to let Ms. Steele try her hand at turning around Alex Green Elementary will likely be a good one.