2015-16 Public Education in Tennessee: A Policymaker’s Guide | Page 2

Dear Fellow Tennesseans,
In recent years, Tennessee reached an important milestone, becoming the fastestimproving state in the nation in fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress. Tennessee also saw significant improvements in
students’ ACT scores, demonstrating the largest growth among the 12 states that require all
students to take the ACT, alongside Kentucky and Wyoming. These increases reflect the bold
policy changes and the hard work of educators across Tennessee, which have resulted in
thousands more Tennessee students graduating from high school college and career ready.
Since the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) began its work, we have
been committed to student-focused policies and practices that are proven to dramatically
increase student achievement, with the ultimate goal that every child in Tennessee
graduates high school prepared for college or the workforce. In keeping with our belief that
policy and practice decisions must be based on the best available information, SCORE has
produced this guidebook as a resource for legislators, policymakers, community leaders,
and other citizens invested in improving public education in Tennessee.
The pages that follow include a directory of leading public and private education
organizations, a discussion of how public education is governed and financed, and
background information to establish the context of our state’s current education landscape.
SCORE presents this information in keeping with our non-partisan approach to providing
materials that can inform decisions in the best interests of improving educational
outcomes for our state’s students. This guidebook is intended to provide needed
information and serve as a starting place for deeper consideration of the challenges and
opportunities faced by Tennessee to ensure that all of our students have the skills and
competencies they need to be successful.
We have made tremendous progress over the last few years, and our state and our children
depend on well-informed policy decisions made by state leaders to ensure a brighter, more
vibrant future for the next generation of leaders. We hope this publication will be a resource
to which you can turn in making those decisions.
With warmest regards,

Dr. Bill Frist
Founder and Chairman

2 | Public Education in Tennesee

Jamie Woodson
President and CEO