Just two years ago, chronic absenteeism was a crisis at Compass Berclair school in Memphis. During the 2021-22 school year, more than half of its students — 55.5 percent —missed at least 10 percent of school days, threatening their academic progress and overall well-being.

This year’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) results were rightfully cheered for the gains Tennessee students made, but it’s important to keep in mind achievement gaps still persist.This is especially true for students who are English Language Learners (ELL). These students scored 15 points lower than the state average in English Language Arts and 10 points lower in Math.As our state looks for solutions to the inequities that create these achievement gaps, we can learn much from the model that’s currently serving Memphis students at Compass Community Schools.