TDOE Highlights Exemplary TN ALL Corps Districts and Community Partnerships
Accelerating Student Learning; Supporting High-Dosage, Low-Ratio Tutoring
Nashville, TN – As part of the TN ALL Corps celebration throughout the month of September, the Tennessee Department of Education is highlighting exemplary districts participating in TN ALL Corps and community partnerships for their strategic use of initial federal relief funding to accelerate student learning.
Throughout the month of September, the department is celebrating TN ALL Corps, which models the use of high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring and collaboration between school districts, community partners and families to increase student achievement, including small groups (1:3 in grades 1-5 / 1:4 ratios in grades 6-8) meeting two to three times per week. This model helps students accelerate their learning in an individualized manner and focuses on scaffolding academic content so students can access new learning, while building upon their knowledge and skills base.
For more information about the TN ALL Corps exemplary districts and community partnerships across the state, click here.
“TN ALL Corps is a strategic opportunity for students to get additional learning time—in a way that works for their schools and schedules — to help accelerate achievement, and that’s because of the hard work of our school districts and community partners,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “I am thankful to the communities across the state that have embraced this program to ensure our students have access to high-quality learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom.”
The following districts are exemplary for their strategic use of initial grant funding from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, or ESSER 3.0, for the TN ALL Corps Program:
- Elizabethton City Schools
- Cocke County Schools
- Union County Schools
- Germantown Municipal Schools
- Lenoir City Schools
- Cheatham County Schools
Districts are using grant funding to pay for part-time and full-time teachers, education assistants, professional development opportunities, instructional materials, and additional tutors. Funds have also been utilized to purchase new printers and resources needed for high-quality materials to drive continued student academic acceleration efforts.
“TN All Corps tutoring was successful for Lenoir City when we piloted it in the spring of 2021. Success grew in Year 1, and we have expanded this strategy for Year 2. Our tutors are developing relationships with their small groups while accelerating students academically. I like to refer to TN All Corp as ‘kitchen table’ tutoring,” said Jeanne K. Barker, Director of Schools, Lenoir City Schools. “The concept is much like how parents used to sit with children around the kitchen table and help them understand and solidify learning from the days' lessons.”
“Every child can succeed. There are times that students slip between the cracks, not because their teachers aren’t doing the best they can, but there is so much on the classroom teacher,” said Susan Collins, East Cheatham Elementary Interventionalist, Cheatham County Schools. “Tutoring fills in the gaps that the teacher can’t. If there are not tutors, students fall further and further behind.”
“TN ALL Corp has been a game-changer for our students. Our students who attend before- and after-school tutoring have built confidence, skills, and relationships with their tutors,” said Dr. James Carter, Director of Schools, Union County Schools. “This combination has resulted in increased achievement as measured through our formative and summative assessments.”
“Through this intentional, highly focused tutoring program, our students made noteworthy gains in their reading and math achievement levels,” said Missy Abel, Assistant Superintendent, Germantown Municipal Schools. “The design of high-dosage, low ratio tutoring allowed our part-time tutors to work with our teachers to best meet students where they are. This partnership sets students up for greater success to accelerate their learning.”
“TN ALL Corps has made a positive impact on our students’ learning since implementing the high-dosage, low-ratio tutoring model. 61% of our students who received intensive standards-specific ELA tutoring obtained a year or more growth as measured by TVAAS on the ELA TCAP,” said Myra Newman, Assistant Superintendent, Elizabethton City Schools. “We are thankful to have this opportunity to provide our students with additional support to accelerate their learning, close learning gaps, and increase proficiency.”
With the expansion of TN ALL Corps to five community partners across the state, the state’s high-dosage, low-ratio model tutoring model has been localized within communities across Tennessee and added an additional 20,000 seats for at-risk students in the 2022-23 school year.
"The Niswonger Foundation is proud to partner with the Tennessee Department of Education in this tremendously important work,” said Dr. Nancy Dishner, President and CEO, Niswonger Foundation. “We are definitely seeing the power and importance of uniting in this challenge to ensure that every student has the opportunity to be successful in English language Arts and mathematics. Our children deserve nothing less."
“The TN ALL grant will help ensure community organizations can provide students with additional support to overcome academic challenges and attain the skills for reading well at proficient levels,” said Sonya Johnson, Education Initiatives Manager, United Way of Greater Nashville.
“All students within the Memphis-Shelby County School District deserve the customized, one-on-one coaching that only the TN ALL Corps tutoring program can provide students as they move successfully through the system and integrate into our communities,” said Michael King, TN ALL Corps Program Director, Literacy Mid-South.
For more information on the department's TN ALL Corps program, click here.
For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.
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