Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn discussed her state’s rationale for moving forward with assessments this spring in a Q&A with the Collaborative for Student Success. Schwinn detailed why data collection, in her department’s view, is so important to guide efforts to accelerate learning amid the...
The Tennessee Office of the Comptroller has launched an interactive dashboard for school-by-school spending data for every school in the state, building on the ESSA requirement that states publicly report per-pupil expenditure data starting with the 2018-19 school year. The Comptroller’s report on the data...
Tennessee lawmakers are considering three education bills in a special legislative session this week to focus on addressing learning loss, particularly declines in literacy and math proficiency, amid the pandemic. The bills would temporarily suspend accountability requirements defined in the state’s ESSA plan, require interventions...
Tennessee will use flexibility granted by ESSA to use federal education funds, as well as a portion of the state’s COVID-19 recovery funds, to bolster resources and support aimed at improving literacy outcomes for Tennessee students. Noting that just above a third of third-graders in...
Last week, Tennessee legislators asked Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn to slow down proposed changes to the state’s accountability system, reports Marta W. Aldrich for Chalkbeat. “The commissioner wants to reexamine the state’s system for judging schools, which currently heavily weights ‘student growth’ by measuring learning...
According to The Chattanoogan, the National PTA has awarded five states, including its Tennessee affiliate, with a grant to help inform parents about school report cards and “empower them to advocate to ensure this data is accessible, transparent and actionable.” ESSA “requires school districts and...
According to ABC 6 News, last week, Tennessee education officials released the state’s new school report card. The report card includes a “parent-focused tool that includes school ratings, English-Spanish translation and additional data on student groups among other features.” The state’s report card was put together...
According to The Chattanoogan, state education officials recently announced that ten schools in Tennessee will “receive grants to help spur school improvement.” These ten grants “will total $8.25 million for the selected schools and will provide funding to support specific strategies for school improvement in...
Jason Gonzales also reports on Promise to Practice’s state findings, noting that Tennessee “is listed as a leader in its plan for struggling schools.” Tennessee received “strong overall marks” in the report, which “also gives the state the highest marks in one area of its plan.”...
After months of negotiations, “federal and Tennessee education officials have come to terms on how to identify and address the state’s lowest-performing schools in light of last spring’s problem-plagued student assessment program,” Marta W. Aldrich reports for Chalkbeat. This agreement “navigates conflicting state and federal...
