Taking Note
Superintendent Selection in2012
May Tennessee: A Brief History
How does the waiver plan fit into Tennessee’s
ongoing education reform efforts?
The U.S. Department of Education required states submitting
applications for ESEA waivers to demonstrate their commitment to key
areas of reform, including:
•
•
•
Locally-designed plans to implement college and career
ready standards
Rigorous accountability models focused on school
improvement
Improved systems for developing, supporting, and
evaluating teachers and principals
By adopting both Tennessee Diploma Project and Common Core State
Standards, the state has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing
the rigor of curriculum in order to better prepare students for success
in college and the workforce. The Department’s plan to distinguish
Reward, Priority, and Focus schools will enable the state to target
resources toward both addressing persistently challenging schools and
highlighting the practices of high performing schools. For example,
Priority schools may join the Achievement School District or develop
and implement improvement strategies at the local level. The state
will commit significant financial and staff resources to support these
efforts. Focus schools may also compete for approximately $10 million
Increasing Education Standards in Tennessee
Tennessee Diploma Project (TDP) – An affiliate of the American
Diploma Project led by Achieve and adopted by the State
Board of Education in January 2008, TDP standards expanded
the number of credits required for graduation from 20 to 22,
including a new requirement for students to complete a fourth
year of math and third lab science credit. Implemented in 200910, the TDP standards align with strong curriculum nationally and
the needs of Tennessee’s workforce.
Common Core State Standards – Developed by the Council of
Chief State School Officers and National Governors Association
and adopted by the Tennessee State Board of Education in June
2010, Common Core standards are internationally benchmarked
standards in English/Language Arts and math. Currently, 45
states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards.
Tennessee is phasing the standards in across all grade levels,
with full implementation scheduled for 2013-14. Common
assessments will measure student learning growth through the
course and at the end of each academic year. Ten of the 11
states that have received a waiver have adopted Common Core
standards in both English/Language Arts and math.
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in grant funds from the state to implement well-articulated improvement
plans. The Department will award approximately 100 Focus school
improvement grants.vi
As the state has adopted more rigorous standards, districts across
Tennessee have implemented teacher evaluation models that
incorporate measures of student growth and regular classroom
observations to identify areas of strength and needed improvement.
Administrators are also evaluated based, in part, on student learning
growth. Tennessee is also moving forward with plans to strengthen
the quality of teaching in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics. This new approach to professional evaluation in
Tennessee schools affirms the state’s commitment to providing a high
quality instructor in every classroom and high quality leaders in every
school. As the state implements Common Core standards, teachers
will draw from the feedback they receive from their observations and
data on their students’ learning growth to target areas for improvement
and to share their best practices.
A State-Specific Approach to Accountability
As these ambitious plans move toward full implementation, Tennessee
must maintain focus on the goal of enhanced educational attainment
for all students to produce a more college and career ready set of
graduates. The accountability model established by the state’s NCLB
waiver enables Tennessee to move forward with incorporating more
rigorous curriculum without schools facing “failure” labels as they
adapt to change. Ultimately, the flexible approach to accountability
under this waiver allows Tennessee to provide oversight and targeted
resources to districts. Coupled with the implementation of more
rigorous standards, educators statewide may now move forward
with a full focus on improving achievement levels for all students and
narrowing achievement gaps without facing the laudable but unrealistic
expectations of No Child Left Behind. This work is a reminder of both
the challenge of improving public education for all students and the
necessity of an accountability system that recognizes efforts made by
districts, schools, and students to overcome them.
The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) collaboratively
supports Tennessee’s work to prepare students for college and the
workforce. We are an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan
advocacy and research institution, founded by former U.S. Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist.
i
The Education Department approved waivers for Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee on February 9, 2012. ED approved New Mexico’s waiver
application on February 15, 2012.
ii
U.S. Department of Education. (9 February 2012). Press Release. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/president-obama-our-children-cant-wait-congress-fix-no-child-left-behind-announc.
McNeil, M. and Klein, A. (27 September 2011). “Obama offers waivers from key provisions of NCLB.” Education
Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/09/28/05waiver_ep.h31.html.
iii
Tennessee Department of Education. (15 November 2011). Press Release. Retrieved from http://news.tn.gov/
node/8067.
iv
v
Tennessee Department of Education.
vi
Tennessee Department of Education.