TDOE Announces School Letter Grades Working Group Members

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 | 02:09pm

Nearly 300 Public Comments Submitted

NASHVILLE, TN — As the next phase of the engagement process on how to determine School Letter Grades, the Tennessee Department of Education announced the working group members representing district and school leaders, elected officials, parents, and education stakeholders to review the public comment submitted and make recommendations on the new calculations for each letter grade.

In 2016, T.C.A. § 49-1-228 was established and required the department to develop a school letter grading system beginning in 2017-18 to provide parents and families with information that shows how our public schools are performing. The state’s letter grade legislation is intended to provide a snapshot of how each school performed during the previous academic year and compare those results over time.

Following passage of the legislation, testing administration issues and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed a roll-out of school letter grades as part of Tennessee’s state accountability system. Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Education is requiring adjustments to components of Tennessee’s plan to comply with federal accountability requirements. Nevertheless, after months of coordination and discussions with Tennessee elected officials and stakeholders, the department is prepared to move forward in creating a calculation for school letter grades.

During August and September, nearly 300 public comments were submitted from Tennesseans on their top priorities for measuring a school’s academic success, and how the state should measure progress towards those priorities. Public comments were submitted via e-mail, written, and also during the 10 town halls hosted in each region of the state.

“This next phase of work brings us one step closer to fulfilling the state’s promise to its citizens to create a letter grade calculation for schools that is transparent, meaningful and easy to understand,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “This group will move forward with those goals in mind to help create calculations to clearly show how Tennessee’s schools are performing so they can target student academic needs.”

The School Letter Grades Working Group will deliberate and determine the new school letter grades calculations. All working group meetings and materials will be posted online for the public to access. View the schedule for the working group meetings here:

Thursday, October 5: Meeting 1- Introductions & Overview of the Task at Hand
Tuesday, October 10: Meeting 2- Required Component of the A-F Calculation: Achievement
Thursday, October 12: Meeting 3- Required Component of the A-F Calculation: Growth
Monday, October 16: Meeting 4- Required Component of the A-F Calculation: Other Indicators
Friday, October 20: Meeting 5- Putting it All Together: Weighting

Members of the School Letter Grades Working Group include:

Aleah Guthrie, Vice President of Policy and Government Relations, State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE)
Bob Eby, Chairman, Tennessee State Board of Education
Bob Nardo, Executive Director, Libertas School of Memphis
Chrisi Bollinger, Analytics, Strategy, and Special Projects, Emerald Charter Schools
Christy Carrol Highfill, Vice President of Advocacy, TN PTA
Christy Hovanetz, Senior Policy Fellow, ExcelinEd
Corby King, Director of Schools, Putnam County Schools
Debra Moody, House Education Instruction Committee Chairlady
Eddie Pruett, Director of Schools, Gibson County Special School District
Erin O’Hara Block, School Board Member, Metro-Nashville Public Schools
Francisco Moreno, Parent
Gini Pupo Walker, Executive Director, Ed Trust
Harold Love Jr., House Education Administration Committee Member
JC Bowman, Executive Director & CEO, Professional Educators of Tennessee
Jean Luna-Vedder, Director of Schools, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools
Jenna Sharp, Principal, Clinton City Schools
Jim Mcintyre, Dean of the College of Education and Assistant Provost for Academic Excellence, Belmont University
Joey Vaughn, Director of Schools, Manchester City Schools
Jon Lundberg, Senate Education Committee Chairman
Kevin Deck, Assessment Analyst, Williamson County Schools
Kim Inglish, 2022-23 Teacher of the Year Grand Division Winner, Murfreesboro City Schools
Kirk Haston, House K-12 Education Subcommittee Chairman
Kyle Loudermilk, 2022-23 Principal of the Year, Kingsport City Schools
Margaret Bright, Teacher, Lenoir City Schools
Maria Paula Zapata, Director of Programs, Conexion Americas
Mark White, House Education Administration Chairman
Mary Graham, President, United Ways of Tennessee
Melissa Collins, 2022-23 Teacher of the Year, Memphis-Shelby County Schools
Missy Testerman, 2023-24 Teacher of the Year, Rogersville City Schools
Nate Morrow, Board Member, State Board of Education
Norma Gerrell, Director of Schools, Paris Special School District
Patsy Hazlewood, House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Chairlady
Russell Dyer, Director of Schools Cleveland City Schools
Ryan Holt, Board Member, State Board of Education
Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director, Memphis Lift
Sara Morrison, Executive Director, State Board of Education
Scott Cepicky, House Education Instruction Subcommittee Chairman
Tammy Garrett, Director of Schools, Bedford County Schools
Tanya Coates, President, Tennessee Education Association
Tim Parrott, Director of Schools, Anderson County Schools
Tim Ware, Executive Director, Grizzlies Preparatory Charter School
Tyler Salyer, Principal, Collierville Schools
Venita Doggett, Director of Advocacy, Memphis Education Fund
Victor Evans, Executive Director, TennesseeCAN
Warren Wells, Board Member, State Board of Education
Wendy Hansard, Assistant Principal, Knox County Schools
Yetta Lewis, CEO, Gestalt Community Schools

Learn more about these school letter grades here. For media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.

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